


The Boy(s) Alchemist

by SideBlog



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Other, Parental Roy Mustang, This isn't shippy don't make it shippy, Time Travel, Young Roy Mustang, or should I said friend!roy mustang, that tag will make sense in a second
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:15:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27884362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SideBlog/pseuds/SideBlog
Summary: In a desperate attempt to save Mustang's stupid life, Ed finds himself back at the stupid portal. What does it plan to take from him this time?Or, Roy and Ed get stuck in the past and need to find their way back before things go very, very wrong.
Relationships: Chris "Madam Christmas" Mustang & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 39
Kudos: 165





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It wasn't supposed to go this way.

God, or lack thereof, it was _not_ supposed to go this way.

Let's review. Ed went on, admittedly, a stupidly dangerous mission against some rogue alchemist raving about government conspiracy theories. Nothing new. He dealt with that crazy ice alchemist, whatever his name was, he'd deal with this one.

As this alchemist caused more havoc through the streets, the state alchemists were dispatched to deal with him.

Ed was the lucky state alchemist to find him first.

"Check it, Al," Ed said casually, leaning against the wall of a tall building. "We won the game of hide and seek." The rogue jumped and turned around, startled.

"Brother..." the giant suit of armor sighed, shaking his head with a clattering metal noise.

"I know you..." the rogue alchemist growled, bending over in a crazed fighting stance. "A kid in a red coat and a huge suit of armor. You're the Fullmetal Alchemist, Mustang's newest pawn."

Ed scoffed. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist, sure, but I'm no one's pawn. Mustang's my superior officer, but he's not controlling my every move. Like this one!" Ed clapped his hands together, and a ringing sound echoed through the streets. Ed crouched, red coat flying upward, his hands pressing down into the concrete.

The street rippled up into pillars, targeting the rogue. The rogue, however, was no stranger to combat. He launched himself into the air, pressing his feet against the pillars and flipping upwards and backwards, landing a good distance away.

"Fan out, Al, let's surround this guy," Ed murmured now that the rogue was out of earshot. The clattering, hollow sound of the armor running told Ed that his little brother had listened. Ed raised his hands, ready to clap.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist is just a kid, huh?!" the rogue called from far away. "I don't know if I can fight you."

"Well, I know I can fight you!" Ed shouted, clapping his hands and slapping the wall beside him. It ripped with alchemical power, and spikes peeled from the wall, stabbing towards the rogue. The rogue, seemingly as agile as Ed, flipped and jumped out of their way, managing to get closer to Ed.

"You can't possibly understand," the rogue whispered, approaching with his hands in a similar stance to Ed's. He realized that there were transmutation circles tattooed to his palms, a common strategy of state alchemists.

"Try me," Ed deadpanned, looking unimpressed.

"I don't want to hurt you," the rogue explained. "I just want to leave, please."

"You don't get to do that so easily," Ed growled. "And I'm not going to take your pity mercy, either."

"Kid, you don't understand-" the rogue tried.

"Don't call me kid!" Ed snapped, swinging his fist. The rogue hopped backwards, dodging it easily, while pulling something out of his jacket and hiding it behind his back.

"This is your last warning!" the rogue snapped, eyes crazy. "I can't take it anymore! I'm going to count to three, and if you're not gone-!"

"We could do this the easy way, or the hard way," Ed warned, adjusting his stance. He saw a glint of metal behind the rogue. Al was sneaking up from behind.

"One!"

Ed snarled.

"Two!"

Al was getting closer, ready to swing his giant metal fist.

"Three!"

Ed hadn't anticipated the gun. He froze as, at the speed of light, the rogue pulled the gun from behind his back and pointed it at Edward.

Ed was fast, but he wasn't faster-than-a-bullet fast.

"Brother!" Al yelped from behind the alchemist, reaching out.

Ed's eyes widened as the gun fired.

" _Fullmetal!_ "

It happened in slow motion. Something slammed into Ed, shoving him to the side. Ed yelped in pain as he bounced against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

"Colonel!" Al gasped in absolute horror.

Ed, still reeling, felt around his chest.

Nothing. He hadn't been hit.

He looked to the side, braid whipping around his head.

In horrifyingly slow motion, Ed watched as red exploded from a blue military suit. Dark eyes widened in horror, black hair fluttering around his head.

Mustang had arrived.

Mustang had taken the bullet.

"Colonel!" Ed reached out as Mustang began to fall backwards. Instinct took over, and he clapped his hands together before reaching out and catching the colonel. He felt a burst of energy swirling around them, and as soon as they touched, Ed was sucked away.

"Brother!" Al shrieked as, in a burst of light, both Ed and Mustang disappeared.

* * *

Ed was hurtling through the portal. He knew the feeling all too well. It wasn't his first time. He remembered trying to resurrect his mother. He remembered escaping Gluttony's portal with Envy and that stupid prince. This was the same, his body flinging itself towards the portal of truth.

He landed perfectly in front of the doorway, and came face-to-face with that same faceless bastard from before.

"I always enjoy your visits, Edward Elric," the Truth hissed, his nothingness peeling into a giant grin.

"What happened?" Ed panted, fists clenching at his side. "Why am I back here?"

"At this point, it's almost your instinct to use your portal, huh Ed?" Truth chuckled. "This time, in a desperate attempt to save your beloved superior officer."

Ed's eyes widened as he remembered Mustang's chest exploding. Ed could almost feel Mustang's blood, still dripping down the side of his face. Ed froze for a moment, his breath caught in his chest.

" _Where is he?!_ " Ed shouted, voice echoing angrily throughout the voice. The Truth laughed, before raising a pale hand to point directly at Ed.

"He's right there."

Ed looked around, but saw no one. "What the hell do you mean?"

"You're carrying him."

Ed looked down, but saw nothing. "You're insane!" he snapped. "Tell me where he is!"

"You'll see. But, you know, you still have to pay a price," the Truth explained, and Ed gasped.

"What?! What are you taking now?!"

"Oh, you'll see," the Truth raised his fingers.

And, just like the colonel, the Truth snapped.

* * *

Ed choked, waking up on the ground, on top of a lump of...something. His head spun, and his lips parted, letting out a pained moan. The lump beneath him moved, and Ed scrambled to sit up and crawl away.

It was a person. He had been laying on top of a person.

The person moaned and shifted on the ground. Ed held out an uncertain hand, unsure of what to do, or how he even got here.

"Hey, buddy, you alright?"

The person, a boy no older than fourteen, started to sit up. His black hair hung over his eyes as he struggled to sit up, pressing his hands against the cold floor.

"What happened?" the boy asked in a small, high-pitched voice. Slowly, the boy turned to face Ed, and his dark eyes widened.

"F...Fullmetal?"

Ed's eyes widened in horror, recognizing the teenage boy.

"Colonel?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's your prologue! Chapters will average longer than this.  
> Anyway, I have the whole story plotted out, so I hope you enjoy it, because I am VERY excited for these two to BOND! Let me know what you guys think! Thank you so much for reading I greatly appreciate it! 
> 
> And hey, if you want chapter updates, other content, or bad art, check out my tumblr, side-blog-writes-stuff


	2. A Friend from Alchemy Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy try to figure out exactly where the hell they ended up, and how are they going to get back?

Al watched in horror as both the colonel and his brother dissolved right in front of him.

No, not dissolved.

They were deconstructed.

Al and the rogue alchemist both froze, staring at the blood-stained spot where two State Alchemists once stood.

"Where did they go?" the rogue murmured. There was a loud, clattering sound as Al fell to his knees, red eyes staring straight ahead.

"They're gone."

"But where did they go?"

"You killed them!" Al exclaimed, launching himself forward and swinging his fist. The rogue alchemist bounced and dodged.

"N-No, I-!"

"You shot them!"

"I shot the tall one! The Fullmetal Alchemist was the one who made them disappear!" the rogue exclaimed.

"Bring them back!" Al grabbed the alchemist by the collar of his shirt and yanked him up, his feet dangling a few feet above the ground. "Bring back my brother!"

"I-I didn't do anything!" the rogue yelled, grabbing onto Al's gauntlets and struggling to free himself. "It wasn't me, I don't know how to bring them back!"

"Alphonse!"

Al turned and saw Lieutenant Hawkeye, gun drawn, standing where Mustang stood. She had her gun trained on the rogue alchemist.

"Let him go!" she said seriously. "We can take him from here."

Al whimpered and slowly lowered the rogue. Havoc and Breda materialized behind Hawkeye, approaching and apprehending the rogue alchemist. Hawkeye lowered her gun.

"Where is your brother?" she asked, looking around. "And the colonel? He was supposed to track you down here."

Al hesitated, looking down. Hawkeye followed his gaze, and froze, her eyes falling on the bloodstained ground. Her breath wavered.

"Alphonse. Whose blood is that?"

Al wrung his giant metal hands together nervously. "I-It's..."

"Alphonse."

"The colonel's," Al admitted, glancing up at the lieutenant. She didn't move, as if she had expected the answer.

But she wasn't breathing, either.

Havoc and Breda watched her expectantly. "Lieutenant?"

"Take him in," Hawkeye ordered calmly. The two saluted and dragged the rogue alchemist away. Hawkeye holstered her gun and slowly started to approach Al.

"Lieutenant?"

"Alphonse," Hawkeye said seriously. "What happened to the colonel?"

Al shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "The alchemist pulled a gun. He was going to shoot Ed, but the colonel shoved him out of the way. He got hit, right here," Al pointed to his breastplate. "A-And..."

"And?"

"Then Ed clapped and reached out for him. They both disappeared after that."

Hawkeye's eyes widened. "Disappeared _where_?"

"I don't know," Al answered in a voice all too small and meek for the giant suit of armor. "I don't know."

"Alphonse. Are they alive?"

Al hesitated. "I don't know."

* * *

" _AHHHHHHH!_ "

The two boys screamed in each other's faces, scrambling away from each other. Boy-Mustang mistimed a step and fell back, catching himself and pressing his back against the wall. Ed remained on the ground as well, back pressed against the opposite wall.

"I'm alive?!" Mustang gasped, feeling along his chest. "I thought- I thought-!"

"What the hell happened to you?!" Ed screamed.

"What's with my voice?!" Mustang grabbed at his throat, before peeling his hands back in horror. "Why are my hands so small?!"

"Mustang, you're- you're-...you're a kid!" Ed gasped, pointing at his superior officer. Mustang grabbed at his hair.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening!"

"What's going on?!"

"What did you do to me?! I'm supposed to be dead!"

"Okay, okay!" Ed held out his hands. "We need to calm down!"

Mustang, fourteen years old and trembling on the ground, nodded, eyes wide. "Right. Yes. Calm. Let's do that."

Ed sighed, lowering his hands and looking around. "Where are we?"

They were in a small, plain room, with a single, dirty bed. Moonlight leaked in through the small window. Roy looked up, the moonlight lighting up his face, revealing his younger features. His eyes took up more space on his face. His haircut was neater. His face was wider, younger. And he looked so, so small.

"Looks like we're in a damn cell," Ed commented.

"This is no cell," Mustang's eyes widened as he looked around. "This is...this is-!"

There was pounding at the door, and the boys froze.

"Roy! What the hell is with all the shouting?!"

Mustang froze in fear. "Sorry, madame, it's nothing! Just...a game!"

There was grumbling behind the door, before footsteps walking away.

"What the hell was that?" Ed hissed in a whisper.

"This is my childhood bedroom, Fullmetal. And _that_ was my..." he trailed off. Ed's eyebrows furrowed.

"What, your mother?!"

"You think I would call my mother 'madame', Elric?" Mustang growled. Ed shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't know anything about your childhood! It's not like you tell me anything. You know, it's kind of not fair, you know my entire story-"

"Shut up, Fullmetal!" Mustang snapped, standing up and walking over, holding out his hand. "I don't know how, but we somehow are back in my childhood home."

Ed accepted his hand and let him pull him to his feet. "How did we end up...here...?" Ed trailed off as he stood up in front of Mustang. The boy's cheeks grew red, while Ed's grin only grew. "Oh, my..."

"Not a word."

"You're-"

"Not. A. Word."

"Shorter than me!" Ed exclaimed, doubling over in laughter. The dark-haired teen in front of him buried his face in his hands as Ed howled in laughter. "You're shorter than me! HA! How does it feel, _shrimpy_?" Ed asked, putting one hand on top of Mustang's head. Mustang growled and swatted his hand away, glaring up at him.

"I am still your superior officer!"

"You're a kid!"

"Whose fault is that?!" Mustang crossed his arms, and Ed froze.

_Mine._

"This is what the Truth meant," Ed whispered to himself. "The toll. It spat us out here, in the past. The price must have been the last twenty-so years of your life! _That's_ why you're a kid again!"

"What are you going on about? What the hell did you do, Fullmetal?!" Boy-Mustang growled. Ed winced, feeling the tiniest bit guilty about the whole thing.

"I think...human transmutation."

" _Human transmu-_?!"

"On accident!" Ed interrupted defensively. "You were hit by the bullet, and I just, I don't know, instinct kicked in?!"

"So you sent us back in time sixteen years?!" Mustang growled. "I'm a goddamn kid, Fullmetal! I'm going through puberty _again_!"

"You were going to die!" Ed exclaimed, hating the way his voice broke. "Why the hell did you jump in front of me, anyway?!"

"I-!" Mustang cut himself off, not sure how to answer that question. "It doesn't matter. You need to fix this."

"I don't know how!"

"Think about Al," Mustang growled, grabbing Ed by the wrist. "You can't leave him alone. We _need_ to get back to our time."

"Okay, okay, we can figure this out!" Ed exclaimed, studying the boy in front of him. A smirk tugged at his lips. "Shorty."

"Shut up!" Mustang swatted at Ed again. "I am still sixteen years older than you!"

"We look the same age now, buddy," Ed patted Mustang's head. Mustang raised his finger, whole body shaking with rage.

"You fix this, Fullmetal. _Now_."

Ed frowned, sulking over to the bed and plopping down on it. "I have no idea how. We probably would have to go through the portal again, but I don't know if it'll spit us out at the right time. It's not like I have any control over that bastard, he may screw us over even more. Send us to a time before you even existed. Or long after we both died. How am I supposed to land us in the right time, and what price will I have to pay to do that?" His eyes widened. "Wait. Maybe this is a good thing."

"How is _this_ ," Mustang motioned to his entire, short-statured body. "-a good thing?!"

"First, I would have to figure out how to send us back to the right time," Ed explained. "But once I figure that out, I can bring us back to a few moments before you were shot. Then, all you have to do is not jump in the way, and then you'll survive!"

"But then the bullet will hit you!" Mustang snapped.

"And so what if it does?!" Ed snarled. "I never asked you to sacrifice yourself for me! I'm not taking us back just to watch you die again!"

"Dammit, Fullmetal, can you give up your stubbornness for one second!" Mustang exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You can die if you get shot. And then where will Alphonse be, huh? You want to just leave your brother like that?"

" _Hell_ no! I'm not gonna die, but I'm sure as shit not letting you die, either!" Ed snapped, glaring furiously. Mustang growled, not sure what made his subordinate so mad anyway.

"There's no other choice. _Why_ does everything have to be a fight with you?!"

"I can say the same for you, bastard! If you would just listen to me, we can save your life!"

"By sacrificing your own?! I won't let that happen, Fullmetal!" Mustang thundered- the commanding bass of his usual voice weakened by the lighter, teenaged voice.

"No!" Ed snapped. "I won't watch you die! I can't-!" Ed choked and looked away, eyebrows furrowing. His face and voice went dark. "I can't do that again."

Mustang sighed and slowly sat down beside him, the bed squeaking. "I don't regret anything, Fullmetal."

"Sure, you don't, 'cause I kept you from dying. If you had ended up in hell instead, you'd probably regret ever tracking down that alchemist," Ed shrugged.

Mustang sighed, rubbing his hands across this face. "Listen here, young man-"

"Look who's talking."

"-you will bring us back to the exact point you were before, and you will not try to save me, okay? I don't know what will happen to you if you try to change things."

Ed answered with silence.

"Am I understood, Fullmetal?"

Ed opened his mouth to answer.

The door swung open, and the two boys froze, sitting on the edge of the bed. A teenage girl in a purple dress leaned against the doorframe, her hair spilling over her shoulders. "Hey."

"V-Vanessa!" Roy's eyes widened at the sight of his young sister. "You're..." _You're young_ , he wanted to say, but he would have just sounded crazy, so he bit his lip.

Vanessa's eyes slid over to Ed. "Who is this?"

"This is Ed, my-" Roy knew he couldn't say subordinate. "...friend." _Oof. That one hurt._

Roy tried to ignore Ed, snickering next to him.

"My friend from," Roy continued, turning to Ed and studying him carefully. "Alchemy." He hesitated. "Club."

"Alchemy club?" Vanessa scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "That's a thing?"

"Apparently," Roy mumbled, looking physically pained.

Vanessa looked Ed up and down. "He's too cute to be an alchemy nerd."

"Vanessa!" Roy snapped before he could stop himself. "That's disgusting, he's just a kid!"

Vanessa looked between the two boys. "He looks older than you, Roy," she pointed out, leaving Ed in silent snickers once again. Roy dug his elbow into Ed's side.

"Well, you should take your friend tonight," Vanessa said.

"Tonight?" Roy questioned. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, Roy, it's Saturday!"

Roy's eyes widened as he was flooded with memories from the Saturday nights of his childhood. He cleared his throat, trying to cover up his rather suspicious tracks. "Oh, wow. Yeah. I'll bring him."

Vanessa clicked her tongue, waving goodbye to Ed before closing the door again. Roy sighed deeply, doubling over and covering his face with his hands.

"We need to get out of here."

"Who was that exactly?" Ed asked.

"Vanessa. My sister."

"You have a sister?!"

"I have so many sisters, Fullmetal, some that I technically haven't even met yet," he motioned to his teenage body.

"You didn't tell me you had sist- wait, all those girls you're calling from the office, those are your-?"

"Enough of you looking into my past," Roy growled, abruptly standing up. "We need to get out of here before you find out more than you need to."

"And where exactly is your sister expecting us to be tonight?" Ed crossed his arms, remaining on the bed. Roy sighed, pacing around the room.

"Every Saturday when I was a kid, my sisters and I would sneak out to these parties these older kids would throw on the roof."

"No kidding," Ed scoffed. "You were a little rebel. Emphasis on the little."

"Just because we're in this mess doesn't mean you get to call me little. I am still your boss!" Roy growled, spinning to point at Ed, who just laughed in his face.

"No way, I'm getting payback for years of this bullshit." To emphasize his statement, he rose to his feet, standing over Roy, and planting his hand on top of his head. "Shrimp."

Roy swatted his hand away. "Figure this out, Fullmetal!"

"Okay, okay!" Ed raised his hands and began to pace around. Roy sat down and let Ed pace, clearly deep in thought.

Or, perhaps not that deep, since soon he was looking around at the bare walls.

"So, if this is your bedroom, why the hell is it so empty? Hardly looks like someone lives here," Ed mumbled. Roy looked at the ground.

"If I'm right about the general time you landed us in, I hadn't lived here for very long. I may have even just moved here," he pondered, putting a hand on the metal bed frame. Then, he went to the window and slid it open, revealing a fire escape.

"And where exactly is here?!" Ed asked as Roy climbed out the window. "I mean, I know we're at your house, but where in Amestris are we? Are we still in Central?" Ed peeked his head out and watched as Roy settled himself on the railing of the fire escape, leaning his weight on his forearms and looking around outside.

"We're right above Madame Christmas' bar," Roy explained without looking at Ed, pointing down at the ground below him. "More specifically. We're in Madame Christmas' foster home."

"Foster ho-?!" Ed almost gasped before catching himself.

"Yeah. Madame Christmas is my foster mother," Roy said. "Well, we actually are blood related. She is my aunt, she just took me in after my parents died." He looked around his surroundings. "Which, if I'm correct, must have been pretty recently."

Ed climbed out the window and stepped beside his boss, leaning against the railing as well. "You never told me you were a foster kid."

"Why would it have come up? It's not something I go around telling everyone," Roy shrugged.

"You could have told me," Ed said. "It would have given us something in common."

Roy raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ed. "Yeah?"

"I mean, she never officially fostered us, but my alchemy teacher pretty much raised Al and I," Ed shrugged. To be honest, Ed was starting to feel a little bad. Roy knew all the shitty details of Ed's life, but never once shared any of his dramatic backstory. Ed just assumed he lived a regular, if not privileged life. If he had known, would he have treated Mustang any differently?

Would Mustang have wanted to be treated any differently?

"I guess that's true," Roy chuckled humorlessly. "A couple of orphans become State Alchemists. They could write a book about it."

Ed looked over at Roy, and saw no joy in the half-smile on his face.

"You know, it's weird, my parents died forever ago," Roy mused, looking up at the star-less sky. "But for some reason, I feel like it just happened." He put a hand to his chest. "Must be because I'm stuck in my teenage body."

"I'm sorry," Ed mumbled, not sure what else to say. Roy shrugged.

"Like I said. It was forever ago."

The two of them fell into an awkward silence, Roy studying his surroundings familiarly, a breeze brushing past his dark hair. Ed studied him cautiously. It was strange, this was still his colonel, but there was something different. Roy was a bit more...unguarded. Wistful, even. Was this how young Mustang acted?

"How are we getting out of here, Fullmetal?" Roy whispered, interrupting Ed's spiraling train of thought.

"I'd have to get us through the portal again," Ed explained. "But the problem is, every time we go through the portal, it takes something from you. Before, it was my arm, then my leg. Now, it took away your present and spit us out in the past. If I try to bring us back to normal time, I'm not sure what it will take from me. I don't know if I'm willing to spare any more limbs."

"Out of the question," Roy shook his head. "If going back requires human transmutation, then I will perform the task. You have had enough taken from you, I will pay the price for the round trip back to our time."

Ed snapped to attention, growling defensively. "What the hell are you talking about, colonel?! It's my fault we're stuck here, now you want to pay the price? No way in hell am I letting that happen!"

"Well, lucky for me, you don't get to give me orders," Roy pointed out, shooting him a cocky glance that was both characteristic of the classic colonel as well as any fourteen year old boy. It seemed the age did not take away Roy's commanding presence. "I'll do the transmutation. End of discussion."

"But-!"

"End of discussion!"

Ed snarled, withdrawing slightly. _Like hell he's going to get away with this._

Roy turned back to the window and crawled back into his room. "I'll need to get human transmutation materials. I can't just clap and transmute myself like you do."

Ed crawled after him. "You can't just go and _do_ human transmutation, it takes-"

"Preparation, I know," Roy looked down at his hands. "And I have bad news."

"What?" Ed groaned, not in the mood for more bad news. Roy turned to look at him.

"I don't think I can do alchemy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to continue this fic! I hope you all liked it, feel free to leave a comment!   
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Some Random Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go to a party.

"What do you _mean_ you can't do alchemy?!"

Roy held out his hands defensively as Ed practically launched himself at his baby-faced superior. "I-It's just a theory I have! Obviously, I remember alchemy, I have it all up here," Roy tapped his temple. "But you of all people know that alchemy is a study of the body just as much as the mind."

Ed tried to keep his face neutral, but Roy had a point.

"The body has to go under vigorous training to learn how to harness and transfer energy," Roy explained. "It's not just drawing circles, it's the activation. It's why regular people can't just touch a transmutation circle and make something."

Ed frowned.

"This body has just started studying alchemy, it hasn't gone through training yet," Roy motioned to his body. "This body probably can't perform alchemy, no matter how much my brain remembers."

Ed sighed, crossing his arms. _Fine._ Sometimes, the bastard can have a point. "Okay, okay. Let's test your theory then, yeah?"

Roy nodded with a deep sigh. "Yeah."

Ed sat on the ground as Roy scrambled around the rather empty room for something to draw with. He settled on a pencil before joining Ed on the floor, kneeling in front of him.

"Okay, so here's the basic circle on my ignition gloves," Roy explained as he drew on the ground. "It controls the oxygen flow, so without a spark, there won't be any flames, but I can still try to manipulate the air around us."

"And potentially kill us?" Ed scoffed.

"Well, if this body somehow can do alchemy, then I'll be able to perform it perfectly. It'll just create a little breeze, but the telltale sign it's working is the blue lightning." Roy scratched out the salamander on the ground before leaning back, admiring his handiwork. "Cool, I still remember it."

"Moment of truth," Ed sighed, looking up at Roy. They both sat there for a second before nodding with determination. Roy leaned forward and pressed both hands against the circle.

Nothing. Not even a tiny blue flicker. Roy's face fell.

"I knew it."

"It's okay..." Ed held out his hands, worried about Roy's reaction.

"I knew it," Roy sighed, resigned. He leaned back on his heels, staring down at his hands. "I can't do alchemy. I can't get us out of here."

"It's okay!" Ed exclaimed. "Because I still can, see?" Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to the floor. From the ground peeled off a tiny figurine of a horse. "See, my alchemy's all good? I can open the portal-"

"Unacceptable," Roy stood up abruptly, brushing Ed off just as easily as he did as an adult. "I won't have you pay the price."

"Colonel, we need to get out of here somehow, and you're not performing human transmutation any time soon!" Ed stood up as well. "Just let me figure it out, please?"

"No, no, if you lose anything else, you could die," Roy shook his head stubbornly, facing his back to Ed. "I won't let you do it. You don't even know how to get us back to the right time."

"Roy Boy!" someone thundered, knocking on the door. Roy froze, spinning around and pressing a hand over Ed's mouth.

"Y-Yes, madame?" he called out as innocently as possible.

"It's lights out, shut it and go to sleep."

"Yes, madame," Roy sighed, and waited until her loud footsteps sounded far enough away. Slowly, he peeled his hand off of Ed's mouth. "Sorry about that."

"Whatever," Ed scoffed.

"Looks like we're going to have to forget about alchemy for a second," Roy whispered.

"Why?"

Emotionless, Roy pointed at the window without even looking in its direction. Ed spun around and nearly jumped, seeing a group of girls waiting on the other side of the window. At the front of the group was Vanessa, tapping at the glass and waving cheekily at Ed. Ed waved back as Roy approached them and slid the window open.

"Your friend coming?" Vanessa asked quietly. Roy glanced back at Ed.

"Yep."

Roy and Ed crawled out of the window, onto the fire escape where a swarm of Mustang's sisters were waiting. Ed looked around, eyes wide.

_I really had no idea he had a family like this._ He glanced over at Roy, who was speaking in a hushed whisper with the girls. _What else did he hide from me?_

"Okay, Ed," Roy turned to him, interrupting his train of thought. "We're going up now."

Ed followed the group of girls, walking in sync with Roy. Roy leaned towards him and spoke in a whisper. "Drop the 'colonel' for now. First names only, to keep our cover."

Ed nodded, and Roy straightened. "We're here."

"No way," Ed murmured as he and Roy made it up the final steps of the fire escape.

Lights were strung across the roof of the building, which was covered in kids from all over the teenage spectrum. Music was playing, and kids were dancing. A table off to the side had snacks and drinks. Surrounding them on all four sides were the lights of the city. It wasn't very clean, it wasn't very impressive, but it certainly was a view.

"Way," Roy chuckled, hands in his pockets. "Yeah, these were good times."

"Roy!" Vanessa exclaimed, grabbing Roy by the hand and dragging him across the roof. "They're playing our song!"

Roy laughed. "So they are."

Ed watched as Vanessa practically whirled her brother- foster brother- across the roof. Roy laughed, and Ed realized he had never seen a genuine smile on the colonel's face before. Even though he looked younger now, he was the same Colonel Bastard. But this time, his eyes were wide and sparkling, bellowing with laughter Ed had never heard before. He was more carefree, less weighed down by...whatever weighed the colonel down. It's not like he ever told Ed.

Roy grabbed Vanessa by both wrists and took control of the dance, spinning her around in a tornado of giggles.

Surprisingly, Ed found himself laughing.

As the song ended, Vanessa threw her arms around Roy. He returned the embrace instantly, before pulling away as Vanessa ruffled his hair.

"Nice moves, but I'm going to find a real boy to dance with."

Roy stuck his tongue out as Vanessa pushed him back towards Ed.

"I didn't know you had those kind of moves, colonel," Ed chuckled, forgetting about the first name rule already. Roy's eyes widened, and he quickly looked at Ed in surprise.

"I'm sorry, you're talking to me?"

"Uh, yeah?" Ed cocked his head. "Who else?"

"Oh, um..." Roy held out his hand. "I'm Roy."

Ed stared at him blankly. "Yeah. I know."

"You do?" Roy asked, retracting his hand slightly. Ed leaned forward, worry shooting through his body.

"Colonel, you do remember me, don't you?"

Roy's eyes studied Ed's golden ones searchingly. Then, the dark eyes widened with realization.

"Fullmetal."

Ed breathed out a sigh of relief. "Don't freak me out like that, colonel! I thought you forgot me!"

Roy reached out, grabbing Ed's wrist with a gentleness so unlike the man that it scared him. "No, I...I'm good, I just got caught up in dancing with Vanessa, it felt like I was fourteen again."

"Yeah, it sure seemed like it," Ed noted, suddenly concerned with just how carefree the man- boy- was laughing earlier.

"Just got caught in the moment, won't happen again," Roy reassured, patting Ed's shoulder. "Come on, let's get a drink."

"An alcoholic drink?!" Ed gasped, his voice falling into a whisper. Roy cackled, and Ed froze, worried. However, this laugh sounded a lot more like the laugh of one Colonel Bastard, and not some random fourteen year old orphan boy.

"They don't have anything else here," Roy chuckled, leading Ed away. Ed allowed himself a small smile.

* * *

Ed and Roy sat on the edge of the roof, facing towards the party. They both had cups in their hand, filled with drinks no adult would approve of them drinking. Roy took a swig with expertise. Fourteen year old body or no, he was still the thirty year old with decades of experience. Ed winced every time he took a sip, but he honestly wasn't hating this party.

"Don't drink too much, Fullmetal," Roy smirked through another sip. "We need you clear minded so you can figure out how to get us back to the future." He paused for a moment, cocking his head. "Huh. Back to the future. That's a weird sentence."

Ed chuckled, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness at the concept of going back. He wasn't sure how the hell he was going to fix this. And he needed to be absolutely sure that, if and when he did fix it, it didn't end in Mustang dying.

Ed didn't notice that his hand had clenched to a fist at his side.

"I'll get us out of here," Ed murmured, mostly to himself. Roy shot him a curious glance, but said nothing more.

"Roy! Ed!" Vanessa danced over to where they were sitting. "Why aren't you dancing?"

"Not much of a dancer," Ed deadpanned, hiding his face behind his cup as he took a sip.

"I already danced with you, Vanessa," Roy waved her away. "I just want to sit and drink."

_Now that sounds like the colonel,_ Ed thought with a smirk.

"Roy," Vanessa sat next to him and leaned in close. "I need you to cover for me."

Roy groaned, rolling his eyes. "What did you do now?"

"You see him?" Vanessa pointed across the way at a boy, somewhat older than them. "He invited me back to his place! I need you to cover for me just in case I'm not back in the morning!"

"Vanessa!" Roy hissed under his breath. "You can't-!" he paused, eyes widened. "Oh. Oh no."

"What?" Vanessa groaned. "It's not a big deal." Before she could argue any further, Roy grabbed her by the arm.

"Do _not_ go with him. Ed, come with me real quick?"

Before he could answer, Ed yelped as Roy grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away, towards the fire escape.

"What's going on?!" Ed hissed.

"We need to get out of here," Roy whispered, grip tightening on Ed's wrist. "I don't want to leave Vanessa behind, but it'll be impossible to convince her to leave in time."

"In time for what?" Ed wriggled his way out of Roy's grasp, easier now that he's not twice his size. "What's going on?!"

"I know what day this is," Roy whispered, leaning closely to Ed. "I thought this was just some random Saturday."

"It's not some random Saturday?"

"Not for us," Roy shook his head, eyes wide with genuine terror, and it was starting to worry Ed. "I'll never forget the night Vanessa asked me to cover for her for the first time. Because that means-"

" _MUSTANGS!_ "

A loud voice erupted from the other side of the roof. Roy yelped- _yelped_ , for god's sake- and yanked Ed down the fire escape stairs just as the door to the roof slammed open.

There stood a large, intimidating, furious Madame Christmas.

Someone threw a bottle to the ground, and it shattered loudly.

"SCATTER!"

"Who was that?!" Ed hissed as Roy dragged him down the stairs.

"Madame Christmas!"

" _That's_ Madame Christmas?!"

"Shhhh-shush-shush-shush!" Roy stumbled and jumped the last few stairs leading to his window. He threw it open and practically shoved Ed through before clambering in himself. He slammed it shut, and they were met with silence.

The two stood in the dark room for a moment, gasping for breath. Ed doubled over, planting his hands on his knees as Roy leaned his weight against the window, head bowed.

"Damn, she was _this_ close to catching us! Can you believe we made it, Vanessa-?!" Roy laughed, turning to face Ed. He froze, realizing that we was speaking to a blonde boy and not his sister. "I mean, Ed. Ed."

"Did you just call me-?"

"Last time, I managed to barely escape with Vanessa. I just got caught up in the moment, harmless mistake," Roy waved him off. "We just narrowly avoided having hell rain down on us, Fullmetal."

Ed studied Roy with uncertainty. That was the second time. The second time Mustang seemed to have forgotten he was from the future. The second time Mustang was acting like a fourteen year old kid.

"You really think your aunt will have no idea we were there?" Ed asked, instead of the other millions of questions that were cycling through his brain.

Roy smirked, starting to catch his breath. "We're just two innocent kids who have been asleep this whole time."

Ed nodded, still rather uncertain. "Right."

Roy sighed, brushing himself off despite not having gotten dirty. "Okay, well, it looks like we're here for the long haul, Fullmetal. At least until I figure out human transmutation."

"We could be out of here right now if you'd just let me do it," Ed sighed, rolling his eyes.

"No, we wouldn't be, because you still have no idea how to get us back to the right time," Roy pointed out, glaring at him. Ed frowned, crossing his arms and hating with all his might that his superior was actually right. Roy was busy stripping the blanket from the bed. "You take the bed, Fullmetal," he ordered, laying the blanket on the floor. "I'll sleep right here."

"What?! Hell no, I'm not sleeping in your childhood bed!" Ed snapped. Roy spun to glare at him.

"You're not sleeping on the cold floor either, idiot! Stop being stubborn and take the bed."

"No, man, it's weird!"

"It is not, it's just a bed," Roy snapped, tossing a pillow onto the ground. "You're sleeping on the bed, Fullmetal, that's an order."

Ed snarled, but plopped onto the bed anyway. "This is the worst."

"At least you're not stuck in a body almost twenty years younger than your mind," Roy grumbled, falling to the ground and rolling so his back was facing Ed. "You don't get to complain."

Ed studied Roy, now stuck as a fourteen year old with the mind of a thirty year old man, back in his cold foster home with no way to perform alchemy. _He's right,_ Ed thought, settling into the bed with a frown. _I really don't._

* * *

Ed must have fallen asleep, because he felt himself stirring at the quiet sound of shifting blankets. He forced his eyes open, but only met darkness.

He heard something roll over on the ground, and he slowly sat up, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.

Boy-Mustang was lying on the ground, entangled in the blanket and facing away from him. Ed raised an eyebrow and watched as Roy moaned softly and rolled over. Ed's eyes widened and saw that Roy's face was actually pulled into a grimace, eyes squeezed shut.

"Mom..." the boy mumbled, whining. Ed slowly peeled the blanket off himself, careful to stay quiet. Roy twitched, whimpering again. "Mom..."

"Mustang," Ed whispered, _really_ not wanting to wake up his superior officer from what looked like a nightmare.

Roy twitched again, his breath quickening. If Ed didn't work fast, Roy was going to hyperventilate.

"Mom!"

Oh, great, now he's getting louder. Ed climbed out of bed and knelt beside him, hands hovering over his boss's sleeping body, eyes wide with worry.

"Colonel, wake up," Ed whispered, gently putting a hand on Roy's shoulder.

Immediately, Roy shot awake, sitting up before his eyes were even open, swatting Ed's hand away while simultaneously grabbing on his other wrist. Ed froze.

"Who are you?!" Roy threw his blanket at Ed. "Get away, get away from me!"

"Mustang, stop it!" Ed exclaimed. "Just- just calm down!"

"Madam! Madam Christmas!" Roy yelled, and Ed launched himself towards his superior officer, clapping a metal hand over his mouth.

"Shut up, colonel, you're going to get us caught!"

Behind his hand, Roy's eyes wildly studied Ed's face. For a moment, he looked like he might stay that way, a crazed, frightened animal. But soon, his eyes widened with a realization, and he peeled gently Ed's hand away. "Fullmetal?" he whispered.

_Oh, thank nonexistent god._ Ed sighed, sitting back on his heels. "Yeah. You scared the shit out of me, colonel."

Roy panted heavily, trying to catch his breath, looking around at the dark bedroom. "I'm...I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Ed said, staring at the colonel. He waited, watching as Roy frantically studied his surroundings, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Eventually, the young colonel looked back at Ed, meeting his gaze. They stared at each other, both waiting for someone to say something.

Ed broke first.

"Colonel, this is the third time you forgot about me," Ed pointed out, concern seeping into his voice. "You were acting like a...like a..."

"Like a what?!" Roy snapped, glaring at him.

"Like a fourteen year old."

Roy's eyes widened, before he looked away, embarrassed.

"Colonel, you're not...you're not _regressing_ , are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Fullmetal, I'm perfectly fine."

"Is it so ridiculous?!" Ed asked, leaning forward. "You're in a body that hasn't yet joined the military. You never became a colonel. You never...met me," Ed finished, bowing his head. "You can't forget about the future, colonel. If you turn into a real fourteen year old, how will I ever get you out of here?"

"I'll be fine, Fullmetal," Roy insisted. "I was just...startled, was all."

Ed settled even more onto the ground, crossing his legs and grabbing at his own elbow nervously. "Yeah, it sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Roy scoffed, looking away. His eyes pinched, overflowing with clear embarrassment but...something else, too. An emotion Ed couldn't quite read.

"Just forget about it, Fullmetal," Roy eventually said, voice heavy with emotion. Old Mustang would never let his emotions show like this. How could the cold, calm, calculating colonel be reduced to an emotional boy like this?

"It sounded like it was about...your mom," Ed continued, his hands fidgeting nervously.

"I said forget it!" Roy snapped, glaring at the ground. "I wasn't having a nightmare! I haven't had nightmares about my parents since I was a-" he cut himself off, eyes widening. He grimaced and bowed his head even further. "Since I was a teenager."

Ed fell silent, not sure how to respond.

"No, this isn't happening," Roy mumbled, running his hands up his face and through his hair. "I need to get out of here."

Ed winced. Roy truly sounded pathetic, _begging_ to be returned to normal. "I can get us out of here, colonel. I promise. You just have to let me-"

"No, no, no," Roy shook his head, starting to rock back and forth on the ground. He held his hands in fists in his lap, shaking his head back and forth as if that motion alone would fix all their problems. "I can't let you, I won't let you-"

"Colonel-"

"-you've lost too much, and it's my responsibility to keep you safe, so it has to be me-"

"Colonel..."

"I lost them and I can't lose you too-"

"Lost who?"

Roy's head shot up, eyes wide in horror as he realized what he was saying. He slapped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry," he said behind his hand. "Ignore me. I said too much."

"Mustang," Ed fidgeted awkwardly. "It's okay if you're feeling sad about your parents, you know? You're stuck in your young body, you were probably riddled with anxiety about it at the time."

Roy shook his head and stood up, aggressively pacing around the dark room with crossed arms. Ed watched him, head bouncing back and forth like watching a tennis match.

"Can I ask how they died?"

"No, you can't," Roy snapped immediately, his pacing never faltering. "What you can do is leave me the hell alone, Fullmetal. It's your fault I'm acting like a stupid little kid anyway."

Ed winced. _He's right._ It _was_ all his fault. It's his fault they got stuck in the past, it's his fault for not knowing how to get to the present, and it's his fault that his normally cool superior officer was anxious and possibly losing his memory. Ed curled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, blankly staring ahead. _I have to figure out how to get us home._

He sat on the ground and let Roy pace for the rest of the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I love to torture these boys! Well thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thank you for all the nice comments on the last chapter they make me so happy to read!


	4. Mild Theft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, and they're still stuck in the past. It's time to figure out a way out of this mess.

When Ed woke up, he was on the ground. He squinted through the bright light, the sun peering into the room and right into his eyes. He shifted on the ground, blinking and pushing himself up to sit.

Roy was sitting on the edge of the bed, chewing on a pencil and staring down into a tattered notebook. He didn't even seem to notice his subordinate wake up.

"Colonel?" Ed droned sleepily, stretching his arms above his head. Roy jumped, the pencil falling from his mouth and clattering to the floor.

"Good, Fullmetal, you're awake!"

Okay, that was weird. Ed watched as Roy kind of...fluttered about, skittish, or hyperactive. There was a smile on his face, that can't be right. The young colonel bent down to pick up his pencil before rushing to the other side of the room. Ed spun, watching with wide eyes. When he saw the other wall, he audibly gasped.

"Colonel, what the hell?!"

There were pencil etchings all over the wall, because apparently the notebook didn't have enough room. Ed's jaw dropped, but before his tired mind could even begin to process the drawings, Roy was already lecturing like a crazed professor.

"I've been thinking about the different theories of time," he said, waving at the wall like a chalkboard. "I studied them a little bit, but I don't know that much, so I grabbed those." He pointed at the corner of the room, in which a pile of books laid messily.

"Where the hell _did_ you get those?!" Ed exclaimed.

"The library."

" _In the middle of the night?!_ "

"Okay, okay, it _may_ be considered mild theft, but that's not the point here! Focus, Fullmetal-"

"Colonel, have you gone completely nuts-?!"

"-Philosopher George Heidegger theorizes that time moves forward constantly," Roy rapidly explained. "We are individual beings, constantly being pushed along this line, but the thing is, that makes traveling backward on that line almost impossible. Not like a line, more like...a constantly moving platform, carrying us towards the future for all eternity until we die. But, _but,_ we proved that that's not the case. We moved _back_ on the moving platform. So, I tried to take a mix of Heidegger and a bunch of other philosophers' theories-"

"-Colonel-"

"-with the study of alchemy. Now, I didn't need any books for this, this stuff I remember. There's the Portal of Truth, right? It's only accessed through human transmutation-"

"-Colonel, breathe-"

"-so, the deconstruction and reconstruction of the human body must allow these individual beings, a.k.a. us, to travel backwards on this platform-"

"-Colonel-"

" _So_ assuming that this moving platform theory is correct, that means it should be monumentally easier for us to move forward than moving back. Rather than jumping to a point at the back of the platform, we would be moving along with the platform, but in this case, instead of standing and letting it carry us, we _sprint_ across it, making us move through time faster than we ever could. Now that I came up with this theory, I had to think of _how_ we start sprinting-"

"-Colonel!" Ed snapped, rising to his feet. "For god's sake, take a breath!"

Roy froze.

"Did you sleep at all last night?!" Ed asked breathily, looking the colonel up and down. Roy ran his fingers through his messy hair, sighing deeply.

"No. I couldn't. I had to figure out-"

"Is this how you were as a kid?" Ed asked, approaching the wall and motioning to it in awe. When he was met with silence, he spun around to face Roy. "Or is this how you always are?!"

"Fullmetal," Roy sighed in a low, broken voice, rubbing his hands across his face. "Please. I can't stay here any more. I can't be a teenager. I can't keep forgetting you."

Ed crossed his arms. "So you admit you're forgetting."

"Yeah!" Roy threw his hands in the air, breath catching in his chest. "It happened _multiple_ times last night! I would look over at you, asleep on the ground, and think _who the hell is this kid on my bedroom floor?!_ I can't- I can't!" Roy buried his face in his hands, falling backward and sitting on the bed with a _thump._ "I can't."

Ed glared down at Roy with crossed arms. "We will get back to our time, I promise. But you can't drive yourself crazy, okay?"

Roy frowned.

"Promise me."

Roy shifted awkwardly. "I promise."

Ed sighed, uncrossing his arms and planting his hands on his hips. "Good."

"This is so backwards, you lecturing me," Roy scoffed, still not making eye contact.

"Well, I'm the big kid now," Ed snickered, putting a hand on top of Roy's head. "Shrimpy."

"Watch it," Roy growled, shaking him off. "If we get back, I'll make so many short jokes, you'll want to transfer to another C.O."

"When."

Roy looked up at Ed with confusion, cocking his head to the side. "Huh?"

"Not if," Ed said, looking out the window. " _When_ we get back."

Roy's jaw slackened, and he nodded. "Right. When."

"So, now that I'm awake, we can go over theories together," Ed sighed, sitting beside Roy on the bed. But, before they could get any further, the door slammed open. The two boys jumped, a surprisingly high-pitched yelp escaping from Roy's lips before he could stop it.

Vanessa, the only sister Ed knew the name of so far, was in the doorway, and she did _not_ look happy.

"What the hell, Roy?"

Roy sighed. "What's the matter, Vanessa?"

" _What's the matter?!_ " Vanessa whispered harshly, face bright red, clearly wanting to yell, but something was keeping her from doing so. "You ditched me, man! You let me take the fall for last night!"

"Oh, right..."

"Uncool, man! The girls and I are getting punished up the wazoo, and you and your little friend get off scot free?!"

"What, are you going to tell Madame Christmas we were there?" Roy asked emotionlessly, looking up at his sister through his long bangs. He looked calm, as if fully prepared for the response.

Vanessa sighed, crossing her arms and leaning her hip against the doorframe. "No. You know we don't snitch in this house, Roy."

Ed glanced at the colonel in surprise, and noticed a small twitch of his lips break through his otherwise emotionless facade.

"That's right. And you know I'll get you back for this, I promise Vanessa. You know I'm good for it."

"Yeah, I know, you stupid dope," Vanessa moaned, as if hating herself for forgiving so quickly. "Next time a boy invites me over, you _will_ cover for me."

"Of course."

"And I will be a part of any amazing escape should this disaster happen again."

"Works for me. You realize that means you'll have to stick by my side during the party though, right?"

Vanessa frowned, flicking her hair out of her face and glancing at Ed. "Your friend stayed the night, huh?"

Roy glanced over to Ed. "Uh, yeah, it was too late for him to walk home."

"A cutie like you would get mugged in a heartbeat," Vanessa said to Ed, cutely cocking her head to one side. Ed frowned.

"I can handle my-"

Roy jabbed his elbow into Ed's side before he could continue. "That's why I let him sleep here last night."

"Then might as well feed the kid, Roy," Vanessa scoffed, motioning towards Ed. "C'mon, we can eat downstairs."

"Breakfast in the bar, that'll make a good impression on my friend," Roy mumbled, standing up and brushing himself off. "But, to be honest, breakfast sounds pretty damn good."

Ed glanced up at the young colonel and noticed some horrid bags hanging from the bottom of his eyelids. He looked exhausted, from just one all-nighter.

He needed to focus and get them back to their time. He didn't have time to waste eating-

His stomach growled loudly, and he sighed.

_Fine. Breakfast, then time travel._

* * *

Roy and Ed followed Vanessa down a narrow set of stairs, into the bar below the bedrooms. Ed looked around, at the bar which is superior officer was raised. It was unexpectedly nice. Clean, though perhaps that was because it was open yet. The room was warm, probably thanks to the warm orange paint on the walls. Vanessa leaded them towards the front, where the bar's counter wrapped in a circle around a door.

Ed glanced over and saw a group of adult women sitting around one of the tables. They were whispering to themselves, all dressed in long coats and short skirts.

"Who are they?" Ed asked in a whisper. Roy glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, those are more of my sisters."

"You have more?!" Ed exclaimed, spinning to stare wide-eyed at Roy.

"Sure. They don't usually come to the parties 'cause they work at night. The girls who did go with us were all too young to start working yet."

"Work?" Ed looked the women up and down. "They work at this bar?"

Roy shrugged, sliding onto a barstool. "You could say that."

Ed frowned, sitting beside him. "Why does everything have to be mysterious with you?! Can you not give a straight answer?!"

Roy shot Ed a look, and he froze. Despite being fourteen, Mustang's eyes were still heavy with age. "This is a brothel, Ed."

Ed's eyes widened. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, Ed wide-eyed and Roy exhausted and unimpressed. Then, Ed managed to get a word out.

" _What?!_ "

The door to the kitchen behind the bar swung open, and Vanessa slid two plates of toast to them. Roy caught the plate with ease.

"Thanks, Vanessa."

"No problem. Anything for your alchemy club friend," Vanessa winked at Ed. "And also, I'm stuck cleaning the kitchen 'cause of last night anyway."

Roy chuckled, taking a bite of the toast as Vanessa walked away.

"So, her too?" Ed asked quietly. Roy shook his head, speaking with a full mouth.

"Nah. She's too young. She's actually the youngest, not including myself."

"So, you're the baby?" Ed smirked. Roy frowned.

"Yeah, I'm the youngest. I'm also the only boy. So, you know, living here was just a barrel of fun."

Ed chuckled, taking a bite from his breakfast. "I can't believe you never told me any of this, colonel. I mean, you were raised in a _brothel_!"

"Why would I? It was none of your business," Roy shrugged, looking bored. "But you kinda made it your business when you sucked us back into the past without permission, huh?"

Ed frowned and looked away. "Look, I tried to save your life. I'm sorry for not knowing how to bring us back yet, but I'm not going to apologize for what I did."

Roy glared down at his plate. "When do you ever apologize for anything, Fullmetal?"

Ed tapped his fingers on the counter, more careful than ever not to lose his temper. _Change the subject._ "So. Your sisters. They're-"

"-whores, yes."

Ed winced. _Wrong topic._ "H-How exactly did you get wrapped up in this?"

"Well, you know Madame Christmas is technically blood related to me," Roy explained. "My parents died, so I came here. Madame Christmas already takes care of all these girls," he motioned around to the older bunch of his 'sisters'. "She saved them, really. All their old pimps were horrible. Every girl here has a sob story about abusive, manipulative pimps. Dangers of the business. So, Madame Christmas takes care of them, just as much as she takes care of me."

"Huh. That's actually pretty nice," Ed noted as he lifted a glass of water to his lips.

"The girls have always looked out for me, too," Roy explained. "We weren't raised in the safest of places, but all of my sisters have total knowledge of underground goings-on. Deals, schemes, the girls usually find out about it. It's really helped me rise in the ranks in some...less than moral ways," he winced inwardly. "They're not just my sisters. They are- or, they will become- my informants."

"Woah."

"So, you wanted to know about my life?" Roy asked, shooting him a sideways glance. "There it is. My life story."

 _I can't imagine that's your whole life story,_ Ed thought, pursing his lips. _But it's amazing you've told me this much._

Before the conversation could go any further, the door opened, and the energy in the bar shifted. The girls sort of snapped to attention, but Roy just curled further into himself, pulling the glass of water close to his body. Ed froze, remembering the terrifying voice from last night.

Madame Christmas looked around the bar, seemingly satisfied with its state, before walking behind the bar. She went to go to the kitchen, but froze when she saw Ed.

"Who's this?" Her voice, while quieter than it was last night, was still large and commanding. She obviously ran the place, and had been for a long time. However, her voice was also exceedingly calm, laidback, as if she could care less about the answer.

"This is Ed," Roy introduced emotionlessly. "My friend from alchemy club." The statement came out way easier this time, he didn't have to practically vomit it out.

"Roy Boy has a friend?" Madame Christmas asked in low, unimpressed surprise, and the group of women giggled to each other. Roy frowned and, to Ed's utter delight, even _blushed_ a little bit.

"Yes, Madame, it's not that crazy," he mumbled, trying to hide his embarrassed expression.

"Really? 'Cause I've never met a 'Roy friend' before," Madame Christmas said, planting her hands on her wide hips and giving Ed a once-over. "And your parents have no problem with you eating breakfast at a bar, young man?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't think that'll be an issue." Usually, that was enough to satisfy any adult inquiring about his parents. However, a sudden look appeared in Madame Christmas's eyes. A look that completely read Ed, past his unimpressed masked. A look that completely understood what he meant, all the thousands of unsaid words read like an open book.

And then, she looked away. "I get it. Well, you're welcome any time, kid. And you can stay here as long as you need. We get a lot of wayward souls in here, what's one more?" she asked, stalking her way into the kitchen. "Vanessa! The sink is _not_ sparkling!"

Ed stared in awe at the swinging door.

"Yeah, that's Madame Christmas," Roy mumbled, taking a sip of his water and not looking Ed in the eye. "She knows what an orphan looks like."

"Oh," was all Ed could say, still staring at the door as the swinging slowed to a stop. Roy jumped suddenly, face going red.

"And forget what she said about me not having friends!" he snapped quietly. "I just never brought a lot of them over because, believe it or not, not many kids are interested in visiting a kid that lives in a bar."

Ed couldn't hold back his chuckle. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, colonel. You've never been popular, I wouldn't expect you to be popular as a kid." When he caught Roy's glare, he only laughed harder. "Besides, I'm not one to judge. I never had friends my age besides Winry." He looked around the bar. "Plus, who needs friends when you've got this surplus of sisters? You have enough company as is."

Roy smirked, looking away. "Yeah, I guess that's a good point."

The door to the kitchen opened, and Vanessa stalked out, looking unhappy. She pauses by the two of them, pointing her finger at Roy accusingly.

"You owe me big time for not snitching, bucko. Madame Christmas is entirely up my ass."

"I'm not the one who wanted to run off with the first boy who flirted with me," Roy said quietly into his glass of water. Vanessa growled, but didn't yell. She took a deep breath, calming herself down before turning to Ed.

"So, you stickin' around for the long haul?"

"Vanessa," Roy snapped, quietly and sharply that it almost reminded Ed of the full-grown colonel.

"What?" Vanessa asked defensively.

"Quit poking around, nosey," Roy waved his finger at her. "It's none of your business how long anyone stays here."

Vanessa scoffed, but didn't argue. Ed, smirked, and almost found himself actually _enjoying_ this morning, just a little bit.

Then, something loud echoed through the bar, and all the girls froze. Ed's eyes widened in horror, recognizing the sound instantly.

_A gunshot._

"Get down!" one of the women snapped as Roy's sisters scrambled under tables. Ed watched in surprise, and yelped when a strong hand placed itself on his head. He spun and saw Vanessa, grabbing both he and Roy and shoving them under the bar. She knelt between them, arms over both of them protectively as if she alone could save them. Ed heard Roy's breath hitch, but nothing more.

"Stay quiet," a low voice commanded. Madame Christmas. Ed watched as the woman's heavyset legs approached a nearby window and peeled back the blinds. Every one in the bar held their breaths.

"Ladies," Madame Christmas eventually spoke up, louder than before. "We're okay. It seems like maybe a car backfired out there."

A collective sigh of relief swept over the bar. Ed relaxed, and Vanessa peeled her arm away. "Does this happen a lot?" Ed asked, glancing up at her. "Not the backfiring, uh-"

"Gunshots? Yeah, around here they aren't entirely rare," she shrugged, shifting on the ground to stand up. "C'mon, Roy- oh, no."

Ed glanced over to Roy, following Vanessa's gaze.

Roy was kneeling on the ground, eyes wide and pupils small, staring off into the distance. His face blanched, and he didn't move, didn't breathe. He was in utter shock.

"Madame Christmas, it's happening again!" Vanessa called in as calm a voice as she could muster. Ed shifted, cocking his head at his dead-eyed superior.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, this happens sometimes. Usually when there's a loud noise," Vanessa explained. "Best to not startle him. Gently guide him out of whatever dark place he went to," she looked over her younger brother with pity.

 _That can't be right,_ Ed thought, studying Roy. He was like a statue, frozen in obvious, absolute horror. _The colonel never reacts to gunshots like this. He lived through the damn war! His right hand is Riza goddamn Hawkeye. He'd never...look this_ terrified.

Ed watched helplessly as Vanessa slowly reached out a hand. "Roy? Can you hear me?" Her hand gently touched Roy's shoulder.

The boy jerked, as if suddenly awoken, blinking and inhaling sharply. In a matter of seconds, he looked wide-eyed at Vanessa, then Ed, then scrambled to his feet and rocketed out the door.

"Damnit, Roy!" Madame Christmas called after him as the bar door slammed shut, and Roy was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And thank you for all the nice comments, they make me so happy you don't even know! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!   
> Oh yeah and HAPPY NEW YEAR!


	5. Can you put flames? And skulls?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy work the bar, and their research continues despite a few distractions.

Ed blinked. _That was...entirely unexpected._

"And that's why you don't startle him," Vanessa sighed inwardly, standing up. She held out a hand to Ed, who looked confused, but accepted anyway. She helped him stand up from behind the bar. "Sorry, he's probably embarrassed he froze in front of you, and that's why he bolted."

"Speedy little asshole, that boy is," Madame Christmas sighed, leaning against the bar and shaking her head.

"This happens a lot?" Ed asked, looking around in confusion. Roy Mustang, as far as he knew, didn't have a fear of gunshots. Perhaps he had grown out of it, maybe got desensitized during the war, but what scared him so much in the first place?

"A bit, yeah," Vanessa shrugged. "He probably ran to the park."

Ed perked up. "There's a park around here?"

"Sure. It's not much, and it's mostly used for drug deals, but there's a nice small tree that Roy likes to sit under," Vanessa explained. "It calms him down."

"Then, I'll go find him. How do I get there?" Ed asked. Vanessa pointed out the door.

"Take a right out of the bar and just keep going. You'll hit it. But be careful, it's not exactly the safest place," she said. Ed quickly thanked her and sprinted out after Roy.

Roy's sister was right. It didn't take too much running for Ed to find a small patch of grass, surrounded by chainlink fence. There was a swing set, a slide, and a single tree. And of course, under the tree, curled up with his head hiding behind his knees, was Roy. Ed approached carefully.

"Roy?" When the boy looked up at him, Ed waved cautiously. "Remember me?"

Roy glowered. "Yeah, Fullmetal, I remember you."

Ed sighed with relief, dropping his hand. At least he wouldn't have to remind a scared fourteen year old kid of who he was. "What was that about, in there? You totally froze up."

Roy crossed his arms and looked away, a breeze dancing between them. He didn't answer.

Ed frowned. They didn't have time for this. "Well, are you feeling better, at least? We gotta start working on a way back."

"I know," Roy grumbled. "I'm starting to realize just how urgently we need to get back."

Ed raised an eyebrow, an invitation to explain.

"It happened again," Roy whispered in a voice so young, so broken, so utterly unlike the colonel that it made Ed's stomach churn. "The teenager took over again."

Ed frowned and sat beside Roy, as a silent urge to continue.

Roy sighed, leaning his head against the tree trunk and looking up at the sky. "I haven't frozen like that in... _years_ , Fullmetal," he explained. "It used to happen all the time, but then I grew up, trained in alchemy, joined the military, and well...gunshots don't scare me like they used to."

"Why...did they scare you? You know, when you were a kid?" Ed asked.

"I really don't want to get into it," Roy shook his head, his head rolling against the tree trunk as he did so. "Just trust me, I didn't handle loud noises for a while. I guess, when that car backfired, my body just shot right back into teenager mode. I froze," he dropped his head and buried his face into his hands. "I thought I would never have to deal with these...spells ever again. I mean, I still have PTSD from-" he cut himself off, eyes widening and sharply turning to look at Ed, as if just remembering who he was talking to. "Never mind, forget it."

Ed's eyebrows furrowed.

"But I guess I just freaked out 'cause..." Roy hesitated. "...'cause I keep reverting back to my teenage self, and I have no control. No way to stop it." He looked over at Ed. "We really need to get back. If I regress completely, then you can be stuck in the past forever. And then what'll happen to the timeline? To Al? To you?" he shrugged, opening and closing his mouth as if he had more to say, but it wouldn't come out.

Ed sighed, slumping against the tree. "We'll get out of here, colonel," he promised. "I won't let you regress."

Roy scoffed, resting his chin on his curled-up knees. They sat in silence for a moment. "You've been behaving," Roy finally noted. "Did your brains get scrambled during the transmutation, and now you're being nice to me?"

Ed rolled his eyes, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. "In your dreams, bastard. Maybe I just feel bad for you because of your pathetic little baby face."

"I only have this face because _you_ got us stuck in the past!" Roy stood up as well, brushing himself off. Ed winced and tried to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest, choosing instead to retort.

"Nah, that baby face is all yours, Shrimp."

"Watch it, Bean Boy, or I'll have you court martialed."

"For what, being a _meanie_?" Ed teased in a baby voice, leaning over his short superior.

"For insubordination!"

"Please, that'll never stick, Colonel Short Stack," Ed patted the top of Roy's head, and the boy colonel actually took a swing at him.

"I'll take off your leg, see how tall that makes you, Pipsqueak!"

They bickered the whole way back.

* * *

Roy and Ed crashed loudly into the bar, bickering between themselves. The girls that still remained in the bar gave each other knowing looks.

"Roy Boy," Madame Christmas motioned for Roy to come to her. Cutting off their argument, Roy, followed by Ed, approached her at the bar. "Listen, I'm short on workers tonight, I'll need your help in the bar."

"What?!" Roy exclaimed. "B-But, madame, I was going to-"

"Going to what, boy?" Madame Christmas crossed her arms. "Do something more important than help my business?"

Roy looked away, grabbing his arm sheepishly. _Yeah, actually,_ he thought, but didn't dare say out loud.

"No arguments. You're helping tonight. Five o'clock. Your friend can help too," she nodded over at Ed, who tensed up immediately. "He'll get paid, obviously." With that, she stalked off to the kitchen, and Roy groaned.

"How the hell are we going to research time travel if she's going to force us to bus tables all night?!" he threw his hands up in the air. "We don't have time!"

"Do we have a choice?" Ed asked, crossing his arms. Roy shrugged, not looking at him.

"I don't. You do, though. If you want to get started without me, I wouldn't blame you."

Ed squinted, thinking for a moment. "Your aunt mentioned something about payment?"

Roy sighed, turning to Ed. "Yeah, she'll let you keep tips and such."

"Well, who says we can't theorize while we move dishes around?"

* * *

_CRASH!_

Ed groaned as yet another glass slipped off his tray and shattered on the ground. A cheer echoed throughout the bar, one he was starting to get both very annoyed by and very used to. Roy glanced over, two trays full of empty glasses stacked on either arm, and sighed deeply.

"That's the fifth one, Fullmetal."

"I know," Ed groaned, shoveling the glass pieces back onto his tray with his metal hand. "It's not like I'm dropping them on purpose!"

"No, you just have to make a mess wherever you go."

"Shut up," Ed scoffed, standing up and balancing the rest of the glasses on his tray. "I've fought immortal homunculi, toting dishes around shouldn't be this hard!"

"No one said being a bus boy would be easy," Roy said as he sauntered past him. "It takes practice not to trip and break shit."

Ed growled and followed Roy into the kitchen. A metal sink was at the back of the kitchen, full to the brim with dirty, soapy water. Roy set his trays down and started shoveling the glasses in there. "You seem to have a lot of practice at this," Ed noted, passing glasses to Roy to submerge in the sink.

"Get raised in a bar, you learn how to bus tables," Roy scoffed, sleeves rolled up as he scrubbed at the glasses. Ed grabbed a towel and worked on quickly drying the clean ones.

"And they don't have a problem with kids working here?" he asked as they worked.

"Nah, the laws about bars and underage drinking and stuff were a lot less intense back in the day. Well, in today's day." Roy looked up, cocking his head as he tried to think through the logic, and what grammar would be proper. He decided that their situation was so weird that it wasn't worth being grammatically correct for, and went back to work.

The kitchen door slammed open, revealing a very unhappy Vanessa, with an empty tray tucked under her arm. Unlike her usual, cute outfits, she chose to wear a sweatshirt and jeans. She tucked her hair behind her ear and approached the kitchen staff, putting plates of food on her tray.

"Frickin' hate working the bar," she grumbled. "Some dumbass creeps out there tonight."

"What's wrong, Vanessa?" Roy asked, not looking up from the dishes. Ed shot her a sideways glance.

"Adult men are creeps, Roy Mustang, never become one!" Vanessa snapped, waving a finger at him. Roy just smirked.

"Unless I die young, that'll be hard to do, Vanessa."

"You know what I mean," Vanessa sighed, picking up the tray and holding it up. Roy put down the glass and looked up at her.

"Do you need help out there? With the men, I mean."

Vanessa snickered. "I know what you mean, but I don't think a little boy is going to be much help."

Roy frowned as Ed stifled his laugh with a cough. "I can defend you just fine."

"Don't worry. You know Madame Christmas will take care of anyone who mistreats with her girls," Vanessa pointed out.

Roy smiled, but seemed very unhappy. "You're right."

"Better get back out there," Vanessa shrugged, hoisting the tray and slipping back through the kitchen door. Roy turned back to the sink with a large frown.

"I hate the way people around here treat her," he growled under his breath before remembering that he was with Ed. "Uh, sorry, it's just that I remember being able to defend my sisters when a man is being a creep but I guess I have to grow up a little bit before that starts happening."

"That sucks," Ed said genuinely. "I know a thing or two about creepy grown men."

Roy glanced at him. "If that's supposed to be a dig at me-"

"Believe it or not, no," Ed admitted, drying off another glass before picking up his tray. "Back out into the fray?"

"If you can handle it," Roy smirked, picking up his own trays.

* * *

Hours later and the bar was finally winding down, a couple hours into the morning. Ed slumped over the sink, dropping some glasses in there. Roy chuckled, coming up from behind him.

"Running on fumes, Fullmetal?" he asked, unstacking the glasses from his tray. "I thought you had more stamina than this."

"I'll give it to you," Ed sighed, chuckling inwardly. "This job is pretty frickin' hard."

"Yeah, but for kids, it's a pretty mean allowance." Roy looked up, seeming to realize something. "It's no State Alchemist's salary, though."

Ed laughed, scrubbing at the dishes in the overflowing sink. "Well, every penny counts when it comes to my research."

Roy smiled, eyes pinching. "Of course. And we'll get you back to your research soon, Fullmetal."

"Fullmetal?"

Ed and Roy spun around, meeting eyes with Vanessa, standing with a tray perched on her hip. She cocked her head in confusion.

"Roy, why did you just call him Fullmetal?"

Ed opened his mouth, but no words came out. Luckily for him, Mustang was a seasoned liar.

"It's a nickname," Roy casually shrugged with no hesitation. "Kids at alchemy club call him that 'cause of his metal limbs."

"Metal what?!" Vanessa looked over at Ed, wide-eyed. Ed flinched and peeled off his glove, revealing his metal hand. He rolled up his sleeve to show off some of the automail. "No way!" Vanessa launched forward, grabbing the arm before Ed could even move. He tensed as he was reminded of a certain excitable gearhead. "This is so complex! And this plating is a perfect canvas," she gently brushed the plating on his forearm before grabbing his hand and looking Ed in the eyes. "Ed! Let me paint it!"

"Let you _what_?!" Roy exclaimed.

"I'll do whatever design you want!" Vanessa practically bounced off the ground. "I'm a really good painter, I could make your arm look _so. Cool._ "

Roy and Ed responded in unison:

"You are _not_ painting his arm!"

"Can you put flames on it?!"

Roy spun to glare at Ed, who was already grinning.

"And skulls!"

"Ignore him, he has no taste," Roy turned back to Vanessa.

"Hm," Vanessa pinched her chin, studying the arm intensely. Ed looked away, as this was getting to be _way_ too similar of a situation with Winry. "How about stars?"

Roy rolled his eyes, but Vanessa held out her hand before he could object.

"Not like cheesy stars! Like space!" she exclaimed. "Like how the sky looks at night in the country."

Ed smiled. He often missed the night sky of Resembool. The central city sky never had any stars, only a faint orange glow from the light pollution. "You've been out in the country?"

"I used to live out there before I was put in Madame's foster home," Vanessa explained, flipping his arm over and looking at it as she talked. "I miss the country sky, sometimes. So many stars, and a blend of colors that's just-"

"Magical?" Ed finished with a smirk. "I miss being out there, too."

Vanessa looked up at him. "You used to live in the country?"

"Oh yeah, Resembool."

Vanessa smiled. "Then I will paint the perfect galaxy on your arm for you, Ed."

"It's late, Vanessa," Roy reminded them, half-heartedly bonking Vanessa on the head with his tray. "We should be going to sleep."

Vanessa shook him off with a smirk. "Oh please, Roy Mustang, you have no right."

* * *

"What do you think, Roy?"

Roy looked up from his book, sitting cross-legged on the bottom bunk in a small room. There were bags under his eyes, as it was getting even earlier in the morning the longer they stayed awake. Sitting on the floor across from him was Vanessa and Ed. Vanessa knelt by Ed's side, surrounded by paint supplies. Ed sat still, letting her paint the plating on his automail, absorbed in a book sitting open in his lap, turning the pages with his free hand.

Roy studied the arm from his spot on Vanessa's bed. "Looks good, Vanessa. You're getting pretty good at this."

Ed looked up from his book. "Woah! This is awesome, Vanessa!"

All across the flat plates of his automail was a base coat of navy blue paint. Over that was swirling, mixing colors, creating a galaxy more immense than Ed could ever see in the sky. Swarms of small, silver stars danced in the pink, purple, and blue dust. It looked like it could have gone on for eternity.

"Thanks," Vanessa smirked, leaning back to admire her work. "It's a good look for you."

"Maybe even more badass than flames and skulls," Roy snickered.

"Rebecca!" Vanessa called, looking up.

From the top bunk, a teenage girl's head popped up. She was slightly older than Vanessa, but still too young to be working the brothel. She had dark black hair and pale skin. "What, Vanessa?"

"What do you think?"

"It looks cool," Rebecca draped her arms over the rail of her bed, slumping over. "You know, it's a pretty good aesthetic. It would make a pretty cool color scheme for makeup."

Vanessa turned to study her handiwork. "Huh. You're right." Suddenly, she grabbed Ed's face and spun it to stare at him intently. He froze, hand hovering above his book. "You know, you would look pretty good if Rebecca did your makeup."

"What?!"

Roy snickered, not looking up from his book.

"Hey, I'm reading," Ed objected as Vanessa studied his face.

"What are you two reading so intently, anyway?" Rebecca asked, climbing down from the top bunk.

"Alchemy stuff, you wouldn't be interested," Roy responded instantly.

"Besides, I've never really had makeup done on me before, so-" Ed tried.

"But you would look so good!" Vanessa explained.

"Don't worry, Ed, I'll make you look great. I'm really good at makeup," Rebecca said, kneeling in front of him.

Ed pondered the two girls in front of him for a moment. "And it can make me look awesome?"

Roy's eyebrow arched as he finally looked up from his book. Rebecca beamed with excitement.

"Hell yeah! I'll get my stuff!"

* * *

Ed was still looking at his own face in the handheld mirror long after Roy and Ed returned to Roy's room. Roy chuckled, sitting on top of his bed, leaning back on his hands.

"Didn't take you for the makeup type, Fullmetal."

"You know, I didn't think I would be," Ed said, running a hand down his face. "But your sister's got some talent. I kinda look badass."

Roy barked out a laugh. "Yeah, you kinda do."

"And did you see the arm?" Ed lifted his painted arm.

"Many times."

"Your sister's got some major skills," Ed said, studying his arm happily. "She eventually become a painter?"

"Nah," Roy shrugged. "She works the bar, like all the other girls."

"And by working the bar, you mean...?"

"The brothel, Ed, yes."

"Right," Ed squirmed on the ground. "That's a shame, she's a great artist."

"Hey, don't assume she's unhappy," Roy said. "She's fine. Happy, even. It's just hard for people here to aspire for anything outside of standards already set."

"Is that so, Flame Alchemist?"

Roy chuckled. "There are exceptions. But Vanessa's fine. And besides, it's very useful to have all my sisters work underground. Helps me rise in the ranks."

Ed scoffed. "Should have figured. Even your sisters are pawns in the game for you, huh?"

Roy's eyes pinched subtly, but he answered immediately and without guilt. "Of course. You need to use all your resources at your disposal."

"Yeah, classic Colonel Bastard," Ed sighed, taking one last look in the hand mirror. "As awesome as I look, I can't keep this on forever."

"No, you can't sleep in that stuff," Roy said, standing up and walking over to the cabinet. "It'll mess with your skin."

"Really?" Ed glanced up at him. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"I got a lot of makeovers," Roy explained, retrieving a cloth and a small bottle from the cabinet. "And, when you live with as many girls as I do," he lifted the bottle. "-you know how to take it off."

Roy sat on the ground in front of Ed, pouring some of the bottle onto the cloth.

"Hold still."

Ed did his best not to move as Roy gently wiped at his eyelids. "I would have had no idea you lived your life taking makeup off yourself."

"Not just myself. The girls taught me so that I could take off their makeup after a long night."

"And by a long night, you mean-"

"Yes, Fullmetal, that is almost always what I mean. You are so immature."

"Hey!"

"No moving!" Roy snapped. "Anyway, I was recruited a lot to help with the girls' makeup."

"Taking off?"

"And putting on," Roy responded, surprising Ed.

"You know how to put on makeup?!"

"Again, live with as many girls as I do," Roy shrugged.

"I don't know why you never talk about it, colonel," Ed said. "Your life was awesome!"

A smirk tugged at Roy's lips. "You think so?"

"Hell yeah! You're surrounded by all these people who got your back," Ed explained. "There's, like, no one in Resembool. I had Al and Winry, but that's it."

"Really?" Roy leaned back, removing the cloth from Ed's face. Ed's eyes fluttered open. "There were no other kids to hang out with?"

"None," Ed shrugged. "Besides those two, I never really got to hang out with people my age."

"Until now, huh?" Roy chuckled. Ed smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. With a sigh, Roy patted his knees and rose to his feet. "Well, you're all done."

"Thanks," Ed glanced at the mirror, finding only his plain, unpainted face. "I wonder if I can do makeup with alchemy."

Roy laughed. "Something to look into, I suppose. But please focus on cracking time travel first?"

"Of course," Ed went quiet for a moment, watching as the young colonel put away the makeup remover. "You think Al is okay?"

Roy froze, thinking for a moment, with his back facing Ed. Eventually, he did answer, but he didn't turn around. "I'm not gonna sugar coat it, kid, he's probably panicking."

Ed frowned.

"But," Roy turned to face him. "If you get us back to the exact moment you transmuted us, he will never have to panic in the first place."

"But if I go back to that moment, you will have gotten shot!" Ed exclaimed.

"We have already been over this, Fullmetal."

"I know, but-"

"No changing the timeline!" Roy exclaimed. The sudden yelling must have taken a lot of out of him, because he swayed, reaching out and grabbing the bed frame with a groan. Ed stood up cautiously.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Roy rubbed his eyes aggressively, and Ed noticed just how deep the bags under his eyes went. 

"You just pulled two all-nighters in a row, maybe you should get some rest." 

"I don't need-" Roy cut himself off with a yawn, and then a grimace in disdain. Ed smirked.

"I'll take the books back to the library and grab some new ones." 

"No," Roy waved him off as Ed grabbed his arm and led him to the bed. "It's dangerous out there."

"I can handle myself, invalid," Ed shoved Roy onto the bed. The boy moaned as he flopped down onto the mattress, but made no move to get up. 

"Sleep," Roy pointed up at Ed. "We'll go together later, okay?"

Ed frowned, but Roys eyes were already fluttering shut. Ed grabbed Roy's outstretched arm and lowered it onto the bed.

"Fine." 

With that, Ed picked up the blanket and spare pillow and set up his own spot on the floor, stretching out on the ground and laying on his side. He looked up at the bed, where Roy was already fast asleep, despite the sun peeking through the closed curtains. With a yawn, Ed's eyes closed, and he fell into a dreamless sleep as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think Ed gives a fuck about gender norms, then we are watching two different shows. You KNOW that kid loves makeovers ad you KNOW he feels awesome in makeup.   
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed a somewhat lighter chapter!


	6. The Boys Got Mugged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Ed continue their research into time travel, and get into some quirky shenanigans along the way.
> 
> (T/W for disassociation, panic, nightmares, and references to war (Ishval).)

Roy shifted slightly, feeling the soft movement of a blanket around him. His eyes fluttered open, squinting against the sunlight that was completely directed onto his face. He blinked for a few moments before turning onto his side.

There Ed was, sprawled out on the ground, snoring and drooling.

Roy groaned, sitting up in the bed. _I was supposed to sleep on the ground, you idiot,_ he thought, peering down at Ed. The boy's mouth was wide open, but his eyes were gently closed, unaffected by the sunlight. His chest rose and lowered steadily, and his arms were spread out, fingers curled slightly. Roy's lips tweaked upwards. _I've never seen him look more peaceful._

Roy grabbed the pillow and chucked it onto Ed's face.

Ed flinched with a little shout, sitting up and throwing the pillow off of his face. "Who-?! What-?!" he looked up at Roy and glowered. "What the hell?"

"We are supposed to be working. And how the hell did I end up on the bed and you on the ground?"

"You were so close to passing out, you were too exhausted to fight me," Ed waved him off casually, yawning loudly into his other hand. "How long did we sleep?"

"A couple hours," Roy answered, rubbing his eyes. "Get ready, we got to go to the library."

The boys forced themselves out of their sleepy states, packing up the books into one of Roy's old bags. Ed shrugged on his red coat, unfortunately covering up the paint job on his arm. He then put his hair into a braid, slipped on his gloves, and turned to look at Roy.

He was buttoning up one of his childhood shirts. Even though he was a kid, it was strange to see him without his military uniform. Roy turned to look at himself in the mirror.

"Haven't seen these clothes in forever," he mumbled to himself. Then, he turned to Ed. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Roy shrugged the heavy bag of books over his shoulder with a grunt. With an exchange of nods, the two boys headed off. Roy lead Ed down the fire escape, saying that they have to answer less questions this way than if they had gone through the bar.

The library wasn't nearly as close as the park was, so now Ed got a pretty good feel of Roy's hometown. It wasn't much, dirty buildings and rushing people. Something Ed would expect from the outer ring of Central City. Still, everything was more dated than he expected. Technology was twenty years in the past, and so were the fashion senses. Ed had a feeling he stuck right out, but he already did that in the present, anyway.

Ed was so engrossed in taking in the dated surroundings that he almost missed Roy slow to a stop. He halted and spun around, watching as Roy looked up at a building, eyes dazed.

"Colonel?"

Roy didn't respond. His grip on the bag weakened ever-so-slightly.

"Colonel."

Ed looked up at the building as well, trying to see what it was. He turned back to boy-Mustang and hesitated, hating to see if his theory was right.

"Roy?"

Roy turned to glance at Ed. He gave no indication that he knew him, he simply raised an eyebrow. Ed groaned.

"What are you looking at?"

"Who are you?"

Ed pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can't just stop in the middle of the road, col- Roy."

"Seriously, who are-?" Roy cut himself off, and his eyes reignited with recognition. "Damn it."

"Yep."

"It happened again."

"Yep."

"We don't have time for this," Roy growled, bowing his head and storming past Ed. Ed ran to catch up. "I can't lose myself every time I recognize a damn building. It was just a store I used to shop at. Not even important."

"That's not a good sign," Ed commented, eyebrows furrowing. The two of them turned into an alleyway.

"No, it's not. The library is just down this next street," Roy changed the topic quickly.

"Don't move," a grizzly voice said from behind them. Roy halted, and Ed followed. Roy felt the gentle touch of a sharp point at his back.

A knife.

"Open the bag," the man said. "Slowly." Roy glanced over at Ed, who was already bristling, ready to fight back. Roy smirked.

"Sure," he slowly slipped the bag off his shoulder. "It's just a bunch of books, _see?_ " In a flash, Roy spun around and thrust his hand out.

From his sleeve popped out his own flick knife, which opened and slashed at the mugger.

The mugger jumped out of the way, instinctively stabbing forward. Both knives slashed both arms. The mugger and the boy stumbled away from each other, bleeding but still holding their respective knives.

"You little brat!" the mugger growled, moving to swing again. A ring sang out as Ed clapped his hands together and dove to the ground. The concrete peeled up around the mugger in a sloppy trap. The mugger, poor thing, whimpered in fear and dropped his knife. "W-What is this?"

"You mugged the wrong kid, buddy," Ed snarled, clapping his hands and pressing them to the ground again. The concrete trap shot up from the ground by a pillar, and the mugger went flying through the air and out of sight.

"You know," Roy chuckled, voice tight with pain, from behind Ed. Ed turned to see him clutching his injured hand tightly, grimacing. "If it were anyone else, I would say 'don't engage when someone's mugging you!' But, considering you've fought immortal homunculi, I think you can handle it."

"Yeah, _I_ can handle it!" Ed snapped. "I'm a badass! You've lost all your badassery, you can't just try to fight off a mugger like that!"

Roy scoffed, looking away and refusing to make eye contact. "Who's fault is that?"

Ed frowned. "I get it, colonel, I know. It's my fault we're stuck here. It's my fault you aren't at your usual strength. You don't need to keep reminding me. Now, let me see that," he reached out and grabbed Roy's arm, yanking over to him. Roy winced, hissing through his teeth.

"Ow! Damn it!"

"Damn, colonel, that's kind of deep," Ed murmured, turning Roy's arm over to study it. "Looks like you may need stitches."

"Great," Roy groaned, rolling his eyes. He glanced up (hee, _up_ , 'cause he's short!) at Ed. "I don't suppose you're volunteering?"

The back of Ed's neck crawled. "To stick a needle into your skin over and over again? _No_ , thank you."

"You not like needles or something?"

"Colonel," Ed looked into his eyes. "I _deeply_ don't like needles."

Roy chuckled, wriggling out of Ed's grasp and cradling his own, injured arm against his chest. "Got it, got it. I can do it myself. Or, get Vanessa to do it."

"Vanessa can do stitches?" Ed asked as the two of them started to walk out of the alleyway.

"Sure. This isn't the first time I've gotten an injury that's needed stitches."

Ed smirked. "Just as injury prone as I am when you were a kid, huh, colonel?"

Roy scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I was never as reckless as you were."

"You just tried to fight off a mugger with a knife!"

"Whatever. Let's just get these books back-"

"Hell no! They don't want you bleeding all over the library! Go home!"

* * *

In the end, Vanessa was too busy, so Roy had to fish out the needle and sew his arm up himself. He sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning his back against the wall. Ed sat on the ground, back facing him, refusing to watch. Roy pulled up his sleeve, stuck a pencil in his mouth, bit down, and started the first stitch.

Ed shivered. "I can't even see you doing it and I'm super uncomfortable."

"How? You literally get stitches after every mission I send you on."

"Not _every_ mission. And I get wriggly every time. I do not like needles!"

"Yeah, I caught onto that," Roy said, voice warped with his jaw clamped down on the pencil. He winced as the needle entered his skin again. "Dammit. Forgot how much it sucked to do this to myself."

"Hm," Ed rested his chin in his cupped hand. "If I ever needed stitches on the road, Al would give them to me."

"What, couldn't do it yourself?" Roy asked through the pencil between his teeth, smirking lopsidedly.

Ed scoffed. "Shut it. Al was even better at giving me stitches than any doctor was."

"Wish he were here now- _damn it_!" Roy hissed quietly, the pencil falling out of his mouth at the sudden exclamation. Ed almost turned to check on him, but decided against it.

"You alright, colonel?"

"Yeah. This just sucks. We keep getting sidetracked. Focus on the theories," Roy nodded towards the wall covered in their notes, despite the fact that Ed wasn't even looking at him.

Ed looked up at the chaotic scribbles on the wall. "Yeah, so, your 'sprinting across the platform' theory? I'm thinking about combining it with my knowledge of the Gate."

"Elaborate," Roy ordered before hissing in pain again, sticking the needle in his arm again.

"Well, I've been in the portal a few too many times by now," Ed explained to the wall. "Every time I get sent in there, it's like I'm spiraling through moments in time. I see these memories laid out in front of me, like a film reel. They're mostly mine, but if you focus hard enough, you realize there's all this information being stuffed into you, including these memories that may not even belong to you."

"Uh huh, okay."

"I'm thinking, if, while I'm spiraling through these moments in time, I try to stop at one? If I try hard enough, I'll be able to find the moment where I confronted that rogue alchemist, and we can go back to our time!"

"Hold it," Roy cut off the thread, putting the needle away and pulling out a fresh bandage. "I'll be the one performing the transmutation, so I'll be the one who has to find the right spot in the life film reel."

Ed slumped. "Right."

Roy started to wrap the bandage around his forearm. "You can look, by the way. Needle's all gone."

Ed turned back around and saw Roy just wrapping up the wound for protection. "Anyway, we got sent to the past as payment for me doing human transmutation," he explained. "So I don't even know if I can use the film reel memories to get us back."

"And we can't just ask the Truth guy to send us back, because...?" Roy asked.

"Because I highly doubt they would just drop us back in the right time," Ed replied bluntly. "At least, not without royally screwing us over," he added under his breath.

Roy tied of the bandage, peering at the wall in thought. "I see. So, I'll perform human transmutation, give up...something, and then while I'm spiraling through the Gate, I gotta grab onto a film reel and hold on tight. Assuming this is even possible." He thought for a moment. "Not ideal, but it seems like our only option."

"We can't just go on a hunch," Ed objected. "It's not like the Flame Alchemist to go in without a solid plan."

"We have a plan. We just have no idea if it'll work or not."

"Then maybe we try to think of a plan that does?!" Ed exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Their arguing was abruptly cut off as Rebecca, the sister who did Ed's makeup from before, knocked on the door and called from the other side.

"Roy! If you don't eat now, you're not eating at all!"

"I'll be right there!" Roy called back before groaning. "Okay, fine. We'll eat lunch, then head to the library, not get mugged this time, and pick up some alchemy books. It's time to get my body ready to perform human transmutation."

* * *

The rest of the day passed without a problem. Lunch was quiet, the library trip was normal, and they spent the rest of their time sitting in Roy's room studying alchemy until they were called for dinner. Today, dinner was a bit more active. Roy and Ed sat at the bar, but unlike breakfast, they were surrounded by bar patrons. Some would eye the two kids curiously, but regulars would know who Roy was, and could assume the same thing about Ed. Occasionally, one of Roy's many older sisters would ruffle his hair as they waltzed by. He would swat at them, snarling but not looking all that unhappy. Ed smirked.

"You've been putting up with shit from women your whole life, huh?"

Roy shot him a glare. "It's different." He turned to watch some of his sisters move around. Earlier in the night, they mostly are just serving food and drinks, rather than steering into the brothel curve. "It is kind of nice, though, seeing everyone so young. It's like reminiscing about the good old days. Before I ditched everyone for the military," he added with a smirk, his eyes pinching with the slightest hint of barely noticeable self hatred.

"I'm sure they're not pissed, considering you hang out with them still, even if just it is just to mooch information off them," Ed pointed out. Roy smirked, taking a sip from his glass.

"You think so little of me, Fullmetal."

"You mean _Ed_ ," he muttered into his next bite of food. It seemed they both were not used to the "first name rule" they've established here in the past.

"Right, yeah," Roy waved his fork at Ed. "So, how are you liking my childhood home?"

"It certainly isn't the...standard childhood."

"No, it is not."

"But it makes sense, thinking about your personality in the future. Of _course_ you were raised in a...a..."

"Brothel, Ed. The word isn't cursed."

"I-I know that!" Ed sputtered, cheeks going red. "I was gonna say _bar_."

"Uh-huh."

"I can't believe you don't tell people more about yourself. What other bombshell secrets are you hiding?"

Roy glowered. "Stop. You already know far more than you have to."

"Ed," Madame Christmas said as she walked past them, large and elegant as ever. "Remember, boys who eat my food do their own dishes."

"I know, Madame Christmas, I will," Ed nodded. Roy eyeballed them for a second as Madame Christmas walked away.

"I never thought I would hear you say her name. Or be so obedient, for that matter. Why aren't you that obedient with me?"

Ed shrugged, sliding off the stool. "It's Madame Christmas."

Roy smirked. "Fair enough."

"And she has yet to make even _one_ short joke," Ed added as he grabbed his plate and leaned his back against the kitchen door. He shot Roy one last look. "Shrimp."

"Ass."

Ed snickered and pushed through the door with his back, disappearing into the kitchen to wash his empty plate. Roy looked down at his own food. _How does that boy manage to inhale his food so fast every time?_

"Hey, Roy," one of the older sisters, Emelie, draped an arm over his shoulder. "Having fun with your friend?"

Roy scoffed, taking a sip of his water. "You having fun with yours?" he asked in reference to the men she was just talking to. Emelie frowned.

"Low blow, Roy Boy."

"Don't be an ass, and I won't be an ass back, Emelie."

"I wasn't being an ass!" Emelie exclaimed, sliding onto Ed's empty stool. "I'm glad you finally found a boy your age to hang out with," she ruffled his hair, and he batted her hand away.

"I have plenty of friends."

"Sisters don't count," Vanessa chimed in, butting into the conversation as she usually does.

"Who let you out of the kitchen? I thought you were still doing hard time for getting caught at that party," Roy shot back. Vanessa pursed her lips, looking unimpressed.

"What you want me to go back in there? Just me and Ed, alone..."

"Stop!" Roy snapped, covering his ears childishly. "That's gross, Vanessa!"

"Aw, really? He's cute, though!"

A shiver ran down Roy's spine. It's not her fault, she didn't realize she was usually quite a few years older than Ed. "No way, Vanessa, find someone your own age."

While Vanessa scoffed and tried to retort, Emelie noticed the bandage underneath Roy's sleeve. "Roy, what happened?"

"The boys got mugged," Vanessa said before Roy could get a word out.

"Can I speak for myself?"

Vanessa smirked, silently motioning for him to continue. Roy glowered, face going red.

"Yeah, we got mugged."

Vanessa snickered while Emelie studied the bandage. 

"You alright?"

"Sure."

"Yes, Big Bad Roy fought off a mugger," Vanessa scoffed.

"Vanessa, be nice. Getting mugged can be scary," Emelie frowned. Roy wriggled out of her grasp.

"Yeah, sure, but I'm fine!" 

Vanessa tossed her hair over her shoulder and started to walk back into the kitchen.

"If you flirt with Ed, I'm telling Madame Christmas where you were last night!" Roy called after her. Vanessa spun around, glaring with overwhelming fury, before slamming the kitchen door open and stalking in there. Emelie snickered. 

"Protective of your new friend, huh?"

"You have no idea," Roy mumbled, mostly to himself, glaring at Vanessa as she walked away. Ed emerged from the kitchen, looking surprised to see an adult woman sitting in his stool.

"Uh, hi."

"Hi," Emelie smirked, getting out of the stool and ruffling Roy's hair one last time.

"Buzz off, we have to go work," Roy scowled.

"What are you boys working so hard on up there, anyway?" Emelie asked, putting a hand on her hip and watching as Roy corralled Ed out of the bar.

"Alchemy stuff, you'd be bored!" Roy called behind him as the door swung closed, and the boys were left on their own for hours, studying until they fell asleep, surrounded by books and notes. 

* * *

_Gunshots rapidly fired from all around him. He flinched, spinning around in the desert with his fingers poised to snap. Really? Just his fingers? Why didn't he have a weapon with him?_

_It was hot, sweltering. The air stunk of blood and flesh. Was something burning? The gunshots grew louder, and changed slightly. They weren't gunshots anymore, they were-_

_Explosions._

He flinched.

"Colonel?"

_Hundreds of bodies surrounded him, but none had faces to identify. Someone was coming to kill him. He had to. He had to fight, he had to kill! Someone was going to kill him first if he didn't fight back!_

"Colonel, wake up!"

He flinched violently.

_The sand was slipping with every step. He felt like he would sink in at any moment. Where was he? What is this place? Had he ever been to a desert before?_

_Yes, he has. And he's killed hundreds in that desert._

"Mustang, you're scaring me..."

_Fight back._

_Fight back._

_They'll kill you!_

_They're children. They're families. They're harmless._

_They'll kill you!_

Something touched his shoulder.

_They'll kill you! Fight! Fight!_

He sat upward, eyes squeezed shut.

"M-Mustang!"

_Fight back or die!_

He backed up against something behind him- a wall. He held his fingers out in front of him.

"Colonel, open your eyes!"

_Fight, Flame Alchemist!_

He snapped his fingers.

He snapped them over and over. He threw his hand out, snapping as hard as he could.

"Colonel, quit snapping, you're not setting anyone on fire like this!"

Someone grabbed him by the wrist. He gasped and flinched backward violently. His head slammed against the wall before he could stop himself. He whined in pain, curling into his knees, and cupping the back of his head in pain.

"Oh, shit! Mustang, are you alright?!"

Roy trembled, holding his head and hiding between his knees.

"Mustang, come on, open your eyes. I need to see if you hit your head too hard."

Roy curled further into himself. "I didn't..."

"Didn't what?!" The voice sounded excited by the response. "Come on, talk to me, you're seriously freaking me out."

"I didn't kill them..."

The voice went silent. Roy refused to leave the safety of his curled-up position.

"I didn't kill them...I don't know that desert...stop showing me..."

"Shit, colonel, you gotta snap out of it."

"I'm not a murderer!" Roy snapped, his head shooting upwards to glare at his assailant. "Leave me alone!"

A boy with golden hair and eyes sitting on his bed froze, looking at him in shock. He held up two hands, hovering over Roy as if wanting to comfort him, but not sure how. "Roy?" he said hesitantly. "Do you remember who I am?"

Roy glared at the boy. _No, obviously not-_. Roy's eyes widened, his hands slowly lowering from the back of his head.

"Ed."

Ed sighed with relief, nearly crumbling into the bed. "Holy shit, Mustang, that was insane."

"Ed."

Ed looked up cautiously. "Yeah? You remember me?"

Roy blinked, then rubbed his eyes, moaning. "What are you doing in my bed, Fullmetal?"

"What am I-?!" Ed scoffed, offended. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, colonel?! You were freaking the fuck out, and I couldn't get you to open your eyes! You were snapping and mumbling about killing someone and then you hit your head on the wall really hard, shit, Mustang, you might have a concussion!"

Roy rubbed the back of his head and winced when a sharp pain shot through the back of his skull. "Please, do me a favor, Fullmetal."

Ed with silent expectantly. Roy looked anywhere but him.

"Forget everything you just witnessed."

Ed frowned, not sure how to respond. "You were dreaming about Ishval, weren't you?"

"No, I-" Roy cut himself off. He was, wasn't he? He wasn't unfamiliar to nightmares about Ishval. But his teenage body was. That must have caused the extreme reaction. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the spots that were blocking his vision to fade. "I think I-"

"You think?" Ed urged when Roy cut himself off. Roy shook his head and covered his mouth suddenly, and Ed got the message.

He lunged off the bed, grabbing the small trash can and sliding it to the edge of the bed just in time for Roy to lean over and heave right into it. Ed looked the other way, one hand planted solidly on Roy's shoulder as if that would help at all.

Roy gasped for breath, still hovering over the edge of the bed. He closed his eyes and held back a pathetic whimper.

"Forget you witnessed that, too. That's an order."

Ed said nothing. Roy groaned as he sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The room is spinning."

Ed looked up worriedly. "Shit, you definitely have a concussion." When his only answer was silence, Ed frowned. "Do they always get this bad?"

"Concussions?"

"Nightmares."

Roy glared at Ed, and Ed could see his full age through the power of the glare. "That's far too personal a question, Fullmetal."

"I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a side effect of the time travel."

Roy sighed, closing his eyes to make the spots go away. They did not. Ed did have a point, though. "Nightmares about Ishval are not a side effect of time travel. However, I think having these nightmares in my teenage body caused the extreme reaction. It was like I was looking at these memories that weren't mine," he opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. Smooth, small hands. Unharmed. "The fourteen year old Roy reacted to an older Mustang's memories."

"Well, you definitely gave yourself a concussion," Ed said. He hesitated before continuing. "I guess that is partly my fault. I shouldn't have grabbed you when you were still freaking out. Sorry."

Roy gave him a confused look. "When the hell did you start apologizing to me?"

"Don't get used to it," Ed grumbled, glaring at the wall. "How's your arm? You didn't fuck with your stitches, did you?"

 _Oh, that's right._ Roy lifted his arm and unwrapped the bandages. "They look okay to me."

Ed took a look just to be safe. "Yeah, okay. They look fine to me, too. But you still hit your head pretty hard. Should you see a doctor?"

"Nah," Roy waved him off. "Just let me sleep and it'll feel better by the morning."

Ed frowned, drawing one knee up to his chest. "You can't afford to have your brains scrambled, colonel. You barely got any brains as is."

"Ha, ha," Roy said sarcastically. "For that comment, you're sleeping on the floor tonight."

"I was _already_ sleeping on the floor!"

"Shush, concussed children get the bed," Roy waved at him again, turning and laying on his back, tucking the blanket over his shoulder. Ed shot him one final, uncertain look before settling back on the ground, turning his back to the bed. 

They went to sleep, and in the morning, Madam Christmas's residence received a letter addressed to one Roy Mustang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Pretty soon, things are going to change. For the better? That has yet to be seen.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, and thanks for reading!


	7. Lying to Colonel Bastard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy receives a letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter! I wanted to show that we're moving into a new stage of the fanfic, and it was best split this way. Enjoy!

After breakfast, Roy and Ed managed to shake off Vanessa and her desire to paint more on Ed's arm and actually had some time to study. They had fallen into a comfortable silence, Ed sitting on the floor against the wall, Roy sitting cross-legged on the ground leaning against the bed. Only the sound of quickly turning pages could be heard for a while.

Ed glanced up at Roy. He had the same look in his eye when he was deep in reading something as he did when he was an adult. Mustang often shirked paperwork, but Ed had seen him dive into cases a few times (unfortunately including Hughes'). His eyes were like coal, burning and unwavering to the words. Ed hasn't seen it much, but according to the team, Roy has fallen asleep at headquarters more time than they could count, slumped over on top of a book.

"Roy, mail!" one of the other girls, Not-Vanessa, called, tossing an envelope into the open door. The two boys jumped, pulled out of their quiet, but the girl had already moved on, calling out into the hallway. Roy crawled over and picked up the envelope.

"Huh, if I remember correctly, I didn't really get much mail as a kid," he mumbled to himself, turning it over to read the name of the sender. He choked, eyes widening and pupils constricting.

"What is it?" Ed asked from his spot on the ground.

"It can't be!" Roy whispered, quickly tearing into the envelope. "Did it really happen this early?"

"Did what happen?!" Ed exclaimed. "Hello, completely in the dark about your childhood, over here, what the hell are you on about?"

Roy read the letter over in silence. When he did respond, he didn't even turn to look Ed in the eye. "It's my acceptance letter."

"Acceptance to what?"

Finally, Roy turned to Ed, expression as unreadable as it is on an adult. "To train with an alchemy teacher."

"No kidding!" Ed exclaimed, reaching out for the letter. "This is great! We can get your teacher's research notes. The sooner you train, the sooner you can open the portal and get us back!"

Roy sighed and passed Ed the letter. "I'm not sure it's going to be that simple. I'm not sure I want this person meeting you."

"Why not?" Ed asked before looking down at the letter.

_From the desk of Berthold Hawkeye_?

"Who is...?" Ed looked back up at Roy and found him staring out the window, arms crossed tightly around his chest.

"The lieutenant's father."

"You _trained_ under lieutenant Hawkeye's dad?!" Ed exclaimed. "Hawkeye's dad knows alchemy?! Wait, you and the lieutenant really go back that far? I thought you two met in Ishval!"

Something resembling a smile ghosted Roy's lips, but only barely. "Not quite."

"Well, we have to go! Come on, pack your shit, let's go!"

"Hold on, I gotta tell Madame Christmas," Roy held out his hands.

"Oh, you think she'll let you go?"

Roy shot Ed a deadpanned expression. "Fullmetal. She _already has_ let me go."

"Oh. Right. Past. Got it."

"You're getting too excited, just calm down," Roy sighed, putting the letter on his bed. "I agree I should go and learn alchemy, but...I don't think you should come with."

" _What?!_ " Ed thundered. "This is _alchemy!_ I live alchemy, I _breathe_ alchemy! How can you not let me go?"

"Because I don't want you there," Roy muttered, facing away from him so he couldn't see his expression.

"What, afraid I'll embarrass you in front of the not-yet-lieutenant?" Ed crossed his arms.

"No, I just-"

"Then what?!"

"Ed-"

"Come on, I can come too! I can even learn flame alchemy with-"

"You will _not learn flame alchemy!_ " Roy spun around, roaring. Ed froze, realizing how pale his superior's face has gotten, how quick he had started to breathe, how tense his body had become. "Do you understand me?" Roy asked, his voice in a sudden, hushed whisper. "Under no circumstances are you to try to study flame alchemy."

"But-"

"That's an order, Ed. Don't do it."

Ed wasn't usually one to care about Mustang's orders. But there was something about the tone of his voice, the dark look in his eyes, the use of his name 'Ed' instead of 'Fullmetal'. Something that made Ed not want to argue this time. He nodded silently, not sure if he was going to keep his promise, but as sure as hell wasn't going to fight Mustang on it now.

When he realized Ed wasn't going to respond, Roy sighed, turning back around and gently setting himself down on the bed. "You can come."

"Really?"

"Master Hawkeye doesn't want another student, I can promise you that," Roy said, looking down at the letter. "But he may hire you for some extra help in the house. That way you can stay near me, and keep out of trouble. I don't need you galavanting about the past without me watching over you. But you _have_ to promise you won't look into flame alchemy, okay?"

It seemed like Roy was back to normal now. There was still something in his eyes, something haunted, but he had shut it all down.

"Promise me, Ed."

A hesitation.

" _Promise_ me."

"I promise, I promise!"

Ed had no problem lying to Colonel Bastard before, why would he now?

Roy sighed with relief, leaning back. "Sorry to freak out on you like that. Where were we?"

Ed cleared his throat. "Uh, researching."

"Right, right," Roy looked blankly back at his books, his mind clearly on something else. "Right. Yeah. Let's, um..." he trailed off, then picked back up. "Um, let's, uh...I-"

"Colonel."

"Hm?" Roy sharply glanced at Ed, looking curious.

"You good?"

Roy cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah! Yeah. I'm fine. It's just I didn't expect I'd ever be going back."

"Right."

"What about you, are you good?" Roy asked, glancing back at Ed. Ed just frowned.

"I'm not the one with a concussion, who's regressing into their past self and panicking about flame alchemy."

"I'm not panicking," Roy scoffed, not bothering to deny the other two. "Just distracted."

"Sure."

"I'm uh," Roy pointed at the door with his thumb. "Gonna go tell Madame Christmas the news."

"Oh, okay. I'll stay here," Ed said, picking up a book awkwardly and holding it to his chest. "It doesn't hurt to study a bit more."

"No, it doesn't," Roy said, sounding exhausted despite the day having just started. "I'm gonna...yeah, I'm gonna go." With that, he scurried out the door, leaving Ed alone in Mustang's childhood bedroom.

"Yeah, he's not good," Ed mumbled to himself. He hated to admit it, but he was worried about the guy. Normally, he wouldn't be. Mustang's an asshole and usually deserves what's coming to him. But to see the confident colonel he fought with so much be so thrown off and distracted was concerning. He wondered what had happened that would make him so adamantly demand he not study flame alchemy.

"I'd say I should start packing, but I have literally no material items," Ed said to himself, planting his fist on his hip and looking around the room. Sure, if one of Roy's sisters had heard him talking to himself, they would be concerned, but oh well. The silence in the room had gone from comfortable to the extreme opposite. There was something in the air that wasn't there before. Ed struggled to find a word to describe it.

Dread. That was probably close enough.

* * *

Roy dared his heart to stop pounding as he ran down the stairs to the bar. _You're okay. The kid promised he won't ever do it. He's okay._

Roy threw open the bar doors, taking a shuddering breath.

_Stop freaking out, damnit. Ed will be fine._

"Madame Christmas!"

* * *

It was a long train ride from Central City of Master Hawkeye's country home. Roy and Ed shared one suitcase; Roy offering to split the few things he already had with him.

Colonel Mustang would ride first-class, in his own separated car.

Teenage Roy had enough money for two regular-class seats, surrounded by people. The two boys sat next to each other, the suitcase at their feet.

Ed had a habit of falling asleep on trains. He couldn't help it, really. He stayed awake for a few moments, watching Roy nervously tap at his own knee with curiosity. Boy-Mustang had really been on edge since receiving that letter.

Oh, well. In mere moments, Ed was out like a light, forgetting about Roy and his nervous tapping.

Roy glanced over at the sleeping boy, draped against the window. _Damn, that kid can sleep,_ he thought. He pulled out the envelope and studied it, as if expecting something to jump out. Nothing did. It was a regular acceptance letter, just like the one of his childhood. He leaned back into the train seat, his head resting against it.

_He'll be okay._

Roy wanted to believe that little voice in his head, but he wasn't sure if he could. Slowly, his eyes started to drift shut.

_He'll be okay._

_Will he?_

Roy's grip on the letter loosened ever-so-slightly.

_You'll be okay._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is how they end up:   
> https://side-blog-writes-stuff.tumblr.com/post/644938043583840256/an-upcoming-scene-in-the-boys-alchemist-nn
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> And that's your prologue! Chapters will average longer than this.  
> Anyway, I have the whole story plotted out, so I hope you enjoy it, because I am VERY excited for these two to BOND! Let me know what you guys think! Thank you so much for reading I greatly appreciate it! 
> 
> And hey, if you want chapter updates, other content, or bad art, check out my tumblr, side-blog-writes-stuff


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